


Iryo-nin Kasa Interludes

by Vaengir



Series: Iryo-nin Kasa [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Side Stories
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-29
Updated: 2017-06-24
Packaged: 2018-03-04 06:17:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 80,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2955338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vaengir/pseuds/Vaengir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The world looks different in the view of another's eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Iryo-nin Tesuri ( 医療忍檻):  Rain’s Threshold

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place post chapter 28 in Iryo-nin Kasa

**Iryo-nin Tesuri (** **医療忍** **檻** **)**

**Rain’s Threshold**

                Tesuri Mon lived a challenging life, like his daughter he was born during the height of a shinobi war and grew up with another in tow. However, unlike Kasa, he was never given the opportunity to leave the living nightmare called Amegakure.

                Under the ruling of Hanzo’s iron fist, children within Amegakure, especially ones from shinobi family were highly encouraged to join the shinobi forces. Encouraged by means of physical harm to them and those around them if they failed to comply. Tesuri, being from a small family of shinobi had no choice in the matter when the Ame Anbu went about the village and collected any potential shinobi candidates to replenish the numbers lost from the previous and ongoing wars.

                Tutored under the Amegakure shinobi curriculum, Tesuri quickly found his compatibility with ninjutsu, much like his parents whom were war harden veterans both specialized in offensive ninjutsu and direct combat. Under normal circumstances, Tesuri would have followed in their steps. Fighters among the shinobi ranks were always appreciated, especially during times of war.

                However, all the power in the world meant nothing, if one doesn’t live long enough to use it. Having watched his parents bleed out on the field while he could do nothing, left a permanent mark on his psyche and drove him to the field of iryo-ninjutsu.

                With his growing skills in the healing arts, Tesuri became high in demand as the war dragged on. Friends and comrades fell, one after another. As hard as he struggle and as hard as he worked, he wasn’t able the save those who mattered most to him. Years after he became genin and barely months as he became chunin another mark made its way into Tesuri’s psyche, in the form of a little unmarked grave, deep in the Ame forest.

                Due to the dwindling numbers, more and more clients outsourced their missions to other villages. Hard pressed with the drop in finances, Hanzo did what he could and doubled up on the effort to recruit and train new forces. Had any other kage tried this rushed process, they would’ve created an army of subpar genin and doomed their village to an eventual annihilation.

                However, Hanzo wasn’t like the kages from the other villages. Under his rule, if anyone dared to fall below the set standard they were severely punished. Often times said punishment left a permanent mark, either physical or mental.

                For Tesuri, the mark he gained was in the form and a small nameless grave in the depths of the Ame forest. He would never forget the day Hanzo set down that punishment when he failed to save one of the better fighters that was mortally wounded during a skirmish. That day was the day his sister died and he became truly without family.

                As punishment for his blunder, Hanzo had poisoned his little sister and had him watch as it slowly coursed through her body, torturing her through a slow death. He screamed and begged, but Hanzo was relentless. He had Tesuri held until there were less than half an hour’s time left in his sister’s life. By then, when he was released, it was far too late to do anything to save her.

                The grief of losing his remaining family drove him mad as he threw himself at Hanzo, trying to kill the man for causing him such pain. Unfortunately, Tesuri was nowhere near the skill level to pose any sort of threat to Hanzo. The ruthless leader had no difficulty in beating him to the ground. He could have very well snuffed out his life then and there and no one could have done a single thing.

                Yet, as if to mock him and torment him further, Hanzo let him live, forcing him to continue his work in iryo-ninjutsu. Tesuri hated his existence. He wanted nothing more than to die, to escape the wretched life that was in Ame, but he couldn’t.

                Regardless what hardships he faced, he simply wouldn’t die. No amount of poison or injuries could drag him to death’s door. Not only did he survive, he thrived at each turn. Even when friends and comrades fell around him, he continued to live. Eventually he resigned to his fate and decided to join the rebel faction Akatsuki.

                If fate refused to let him die, then he would do whatever he could to take vengeance against Hanzo. If he couldn’t take down the man himself, he would support others and help them do so.

                As an iryo-nin, his skillset was a valuable commodity as they were rare among most shinobi ranks. With Konoha being the only exception that had at least one iryo-nin in almost every platoon of shinobi on the field. Likely it was due to the machinations of a legendary iryo-nin such as Tsunade.

                Regardless the fact that he was from another village, his respect for the woman never wavered. He only wished that Ame had the same procedures when it came to the wellbeing of their shinobi. When he joined Akatsuki, he expected the rest of his life to be filled with violence and death. What he didn’t expect, was to fall in love.

                “Sorry for the trouble Tesuri,” grimaced Yahiko as Tesuri snuck him out of the detainment cellar.

                “When are you going to be more careful with yourself?” grunted the blue-haired jounin with Yahiko’s arm over his shoulder and his arm around the beaten young man’s waist.

                After joining Akatsuki, he served as a double agent. Helping them whenever they were captured and healing them whenever they needed medical assistance and hiding them when they needed to flee. Though, when it came to Yahiko, he had his hands full just keeping him away from Ame’s T&I.

                “I-I’m working on that,” winced Yahiko. “Hanzo’s a tough bastard. It’s near impossible to run away when he sets your sight on you. I swear, I will get him one of these days.”

                “Big aspiration,” drawled Tesuri. “How about we get you out of here first?”

                A weak chuckle escaped Yahiko. “That sounds good… Konan’s probably going to kill me when she hears about this though.”

                “Better by her hand than Hanzo’s,” grinned Tesuri. “She’s prettier at least.”

                A snigger escaped Yahiko. “Don’t let her hear that.”

                “As if—” Tesuri silenced himself as he hastily pressed Yahiko to the wall.

                Neither of them could see anyone nor hear anything, but they knew someone was coming. Sharing a quick glance, Yahiko nodded before Tesuri twisted his arm behind his back and toss him to the ground.

                “Trying to escape?” started Tesuri harshly. “Are you really that naïve?

                “Damn it! How did you find me?” growled Yahiko.

                “I don’t need to explain myself,” continued Tesuri, his eyes flicking to the corners of his eyes trying to see who was coming, but he saw no one.

                “Let go of me!” snapped Yahiko.

                “Shut up traitor,” said Tesuri as he pressed Yahiko’s arm harder.

                “Ow!” hissed Yahiko. “Take it easy would you?”

                “You have no place to talk,” said Tesuri.

                “You sadist,” cried out Yahiko, though from the sound of his voice, Tesuri couldn’t tell whether he was keeping up the act or actually calling him a sadist.

                His thoughts didn’t linger on the matter for long as a feminine voice shouted “Sealing Technique: Earth Fist!”

                “Wait did she say—” started Yahiko, but he never finished as a dirt packed fist shot out from the ground and sent Tesuri flying into the cellar ceiling. “Somoku!”

                “Hurry up Yahiko,” hissed a masked woman. “What happened to the guy that was supposed to get you out? Did he abandon you?”

                “Uh…” Yahiko looked to where Tesuri landed. “You just knocked him out.”

                “Eh?” surprised crossed her eyes as she turned to Tesuri’s fallen form. “EH? But he was attacking you! How could he be helping?”

                “He was trying to throw off whoever it was we thought was coming! You can’t expect him to fight and haul my ass around at the same time do you?” said Yahiko in exasperation.

                “How should I know?” grumbled Somoku. “It’s not like I’ve ever seen him before!”

                “Never mind that, we should really get going before someone notices I’m gone,” said Yahiko.

                “What are we going to do with him?” nodded Somoku to Tesuri’s fallen form. “I can’t carry you and him at the same time.”

                “We can’t just leave him either!” retorted Yahiko. “Do you know what Hanzo would do to him if he knew that I got out on his watch?”

                “What do you want me to do?” snapped Somoku.

                “I don’t know! Think of something! You’re the seal master, do something fancy!” said Yahiko.

                “…Fine, fine!” grumbled Somoku under her breath as she reached into her pouch. “Ungrateful bastard, I come all this way to help him and he makes me lug around another deadweight just like him. Whatever, I always wanted to try out this seal anyway.”

                “Wait, try?” said Yahiko in disbelief. “You never used it before?”

                “Well, I’ve used it before… just never on a live human,” said Somoku cheerily.

                “Is he going to die if you stick him in there?” asked Yahiko warily.

                “He’s going to die if Hanzo gets his hands on him, so why not?” said Somoku.

                “You two do know I punch like that won’t knock me out right?” grunted Tesuri as he crawled to his knees, rubbing his face. “That stung though.”

                “Oh! He’s still awake!” said Somoku in surprise. “I was so sure it would’ve knocked him out.”

                “New?” grumbled Tesuri as he gathered his wits and got to his feet.

                “Sort of?” said Yahiko as he ran a hand through his hair. “She’s Nagato’s cousin, thrice removed or something of the sort. I’m not really all that sure.”

                “Same village, same clan and a whole lot of drama,” drawled Somoku. “As much as I like to stand here and make your acquaintance, we’re pressed for time. The disillusion seal I placed up isn’t going to last forever. Someone’s going to notice sooner or later.”

                “You take Yahiko then. I’ll cover your tracks,” said Tesuri.

                “What?” whined Yahiko. “You’re going to abandon me to this brute of a woman?”

                “Who are you calling a brute?” said Somoku sweetly.

                “N-no one!” squeaked Yahiko.

                “I thought so,” said Somoku with a grin.

                “Just get out of here,” said Tesuri in exasperation.

                “Will do,” chirped Somoku as she grabbed Yahiko by the back of his collar and began to drag him off. “Come along Yahiko.”

                “T-Tesuri!” choked Yahiko desperately as he looked to him for help.

                A faint grin touched Tesuri’s lips as he shook his head.

                “Oh! By the way,” said Somoku as she paused briefly to glance at Tesuri with a sheepish grin. “Sorry for punching you into the ceiling. Force of habit from where I’m from.”

                “…Okay?” said Tesuri, uncertain to what else he could say. What would anyone say to that in this situation?

                “Great! See you around!” said Somoku before he hauled Yahiko off.

                The first impression she left on Tesuri was that she was loud, abrasive and bit obnoxious. Compared to the gloominess of the villagers and shinobi in Ame, she was like a glowing sun. He didn’t like her.

                Yet, somehow he kept running into her wherever he went. To the point that was bordering stalking.

                “Are you stalking me?” asked Tesuri in annoyance.

                “What makes you think that?” chirped Somoku. “We’re both shinobi and we both live in the same village, why do you think I’m stalking you?”

                “Because wherever I go, you’re always there!” growled Tesuri.

                “Okay, maybe I am stalking you,” admitted Somoku. “But it’s not like I’m trying to be creepy.”

                “Just go away,” sighed Tesuri, exhausted.

                “You know, you should really relax a little,” said the fiery red-head. “If you keep frowning like that, your face is going to get stuck.”

                “Do you always have to act like a sun all the time?” said Tesuri snidely.

                “Sun?” repeated Somoku in confusion.

                “You’re always so bright and happy! What is there to be happy about?” snapped Tesuri. “A war is raging, people are dying and it’s hard enough to just survive in Ame. There’s nothing to be happy about and just looking at you is making me exhausted.”

                Somoku waited for him to finish before she wrapped an arm around her back and gripped onto her other arm. “…Sorry Mr. Gloom and Doom,” grumbled the young woman. “You always looked so miserable so I was just trying to cheer you up. They said smiles are contagious, but I guess not in your case.”

                “Wait, I—” started Tesuri, but was abruptly cut off.

                “See you around,” muttered Somoku before she disappeared in a splash.

                For weeks, he didn’t see a single strand of red hair. At any other time, Tesuri wouldn’t have bothered and let the matter pass. However, Somoku’s words lingered in his mind and he couldn’t ignore it as much as he wanted to. Why would she go out of her way to try to cheer him up? They’ve only met once before and even then, they barely even talked. So why was she going out of her way to do this?

                Despite knowing next to nothing of the woman’s actions, Tesuri found himself searching for her whenever he wasn’t at the hospital or on the field. The longer he went without seeing her, the stronger the guilt grew. He had no clue why he felt so bad for yelling at her.

                The next time he saw her, it was at the place he least expected. The grave of his little sister.

                “Hey gloomy,” greeted Somoku from her seat in front of the grave. She was soaked by the rain. It was odd that she wasn’t carrying an umbrella. No one ever left the house without one. In Ame, it always rained.

                “What are you doing here?” asked Tesuri as he stopped, several steps away from her.

                “I spoke with Konan,” explained Somoku. “She told me what happened with your little sister.”

                Tesuri said nothing.

                “I know it’s not my place to say anything since I know nothing about you or your family, but… Don’t you think they would be sad if they knew you were like this?” asked Somoku. “So sad, all the time?”

                “What do you know?” said Tesuri.

                “My home village was completely destroyed,” said Somoku with a sad grin. “Everyone is either dead or scattered to the four corners of the world.”

                “…I’m sorry to hear that,” said Tesuri, his words sounding empty even to his ears.

                “I’m not,” chirped Somoku.

                “What?” said Tesuri puzzled.

                “Things happen,” reasoned Somoku. “We can’t always control what happens around us. That’s a simple fact. Instead of wallowing away in misery, why not make the best of it?”

                “… You’re shining like the sun again,” said Tesuri irritably.

                “I’ll take that as a compliment,” said Somoku cheerily.

                “…I don’t understand,” sighed Tesuri. “Why do you even bother?”

                “They said misery loves company,” said Somoku. “But there’s another saying where misery only brings more misery… I’m… kind of tired of all this misery.”

                Tesuri twitched when he noticed a solemn expression crossing her face.

                “Aren’t you tired?” asked the woman quietly. “Misery is such a heavy burden. Can’t you give yourself a moment of rest and let go of that burden?”

                “Why do you care?” asked Tesuri. “I don’t even know you.”

                “Because you can do the one thing I can’t,” said Somoku with a sheepish laugh.

                “And that is?” asked Tesuri.

                “You can heal people,” said Somoku. “I may act all happy and goofy, but when it comes to my seals and all, if I’m not destroying, the most I could do was shielding. You’re different. You can actually heal and fix people… I’m a little jealous to tell the truth. I have no aptitude for the healing arts.”

                “No aptitude huh?” said Tesuri quietly after a moment of silence.

                “None whatsoever,” chirped Somoku. “I can’t even have pet because they kept dying in my care… my poor turtles.”

                “…Pft,” slipped a snicker from Tesuri as he raised a hand to cover his mouth in surprise. It’s been so long, he had almost forgotten how to laugh.

                “Ha! You laughed!” cheered Somoku. “I got Mr. Gloomy to laugh!”

                “No you didn’t,” said Tesuri as he recomposed himself.

                “You can hide it all you want, but you and I both know it,” grinned the woman. “I got you to laugh and—achoo!”

                Tesuri rolled his eyes as he moved to hold his umbrella over her. “If you stay in the rain any longer, you’re going to get sick.”

                Somoku blinked as she glanced up at the umbrella before a sly grin crossed her lips. “My, my, are you flirting with me, Mr. Gloomy?”

                “W-What?” said Tesuri, flustered as the woman jumped to her feet and invaded his personal space.

                “You like me don’t you?” said Somoku teasingly only inches away from his face.

                “Don’t you know anything about boundaries?” said Tesuri as he took a step back.

                “Aw, you’re shy!” giggled Somoku. “You know what? I think I’m going to marry you.”

                Tesuri’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about? Don’t make these decisions on your own!”

                She pouted with teary eyes. “What? You don’t like me after all?”

                “T-That’s…” Tesuri didn’t know what to say.

                “…Hehe,” sniggered Somoku as she took a step back and held her stomach laughing. “Oh goodness, you should’ve seen the look on your face! That was priceless!”

                “I’m leaving,” said Tesuri as he turned his heel to leave.

                “Oh come on! It was just a joke! Lighten up!” said Somoku as she skipped over and loop her arm around his. “You’re not really angry are you?”

                Tesuri sighed, grabbing her hand from his arm and planted his umbrella into her hand. “Go home, dry off and get changed before you get sick.”

                Surprise crossed her face at his suggestion, but was immediately replaced by another grin. “See you around then,” said the girl before she tip-toed to peck him on the cheek.

                Tesuri stood stunned as she turned heel and dashed off without another word. Numbly, he placed a hand on the cheek that was kissed before his face flushed red. “I really don’t like her.”

                Little did he know, with each meeting he had with Somoku he found himself smiling and even laughing at times. When he finally realized what was happening, it’s been years and he had fallen for the girl who shined like the sun.

                “Heya, what’s with the long face Mr. Gloomy?” said Somoku as she snapped him out of his thoughts as she plopped down next to him. “Nagato and the others did pretty well this time, Yahiko didn’t even need you to bail him out this time.”

                “Somoku,” said Tesuri, his tone serious.

                The red-haired woman stood attention at his voice. “What’s wrong?”

                “I have something to ask you,” said Tesuri as he stared everywhere except her face.

                “Okay?” said the woman in confusion as she tilted her head.

                “… I don’t know how to word this…” said Tesuri slowly.

                “You could always say it bluntly,” suggested Somoku.

                “You said you were tired right?” asked Tesuri.

                “Tired?” repeated Somoku in confusion.

                “Tired of the misery?” supplied Tesuri before her usual smile slipped a little.

                “What about it?” asked Somoku as she turned away, imitating him.

                “I just wanted you to know… over the past few years, you’ve lifted that misery from me,” said Tesuri.

                The smile returned to her face. “That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

                “But it’s hardly fair,” added Tesuri.

                “Fair?” confusion returned to her face again. “What does fair have to do with anything?”

                “You’ve been doing that for me all this time and you’ve got nothing in return,” said Tesuri.

                “I didn’t’ expect anything to return,” said Somoku puzzled. “I didn’t do it for rewards you know.”

                A faint smile touched his lips as he forced himself to look at her in the face. “I know, but still,” said Tesuri as he gathered his thoughts and tried to piece what he wanted to say together.

                Somoku glanced at him curiously. “What’s wrong?”

                “I know this may sound selfish…” he took a deep breath. “I would like you to keep the misery away forever.”

                “…Um… sure?” said Somoku, uncertain with what he was trying to offer. “But I’m not sure how…?”

                A soft chuckle escaped Tesuri as he reached out to hold her hand. “Just staying the way you are is fine. As long as you’re with me. It’s fine.”

                Somoku stared at his hand in surprise at first before understanding dawned. A grin spread across her face as she weaved her fingers into his hand and gripped it comfortingly. “Sure, I’ll stick around for as long as you need me.”

                Her promise lasted for five years before Hanzo realized their affiliation with Akatsuki and decided it was time to tie off the ends.

                “Somoku, take Kasa and run!” shouted Tesuri as he and Somoku fled with Kasa in his arms.

                “Don’t be stupid! You’re an iryo-nin! They’ll destroy you! Argued Somoku.

                “I’m not going to let you and Kasa die here like this!” snapped Tesuri as he shoved their daughter into her arms. “You are taking Kasa and that’s final!”

                Somoku looked at her husband with intense eyes as she stopped on a branch, arms resisting the urge to shake as she held onto her four-year-old daughter.

                “What are you doing?” Tesuri caught himself at the next branch when he realized his wife had stopped moving.

                “I have a better chance of surviving than you. And if Kasa gets hurt, you are the better healer,” reason Somoku as she placed Kasa down on the branch.

                “Somoku please!” begged Tesuri as he raced back to her, but his pleads were left unheard as Ame-nin swarmed them from behind. As he made his way back, he could see her saying her last words to their daughter before he grasped onto the child’s arms, concentrating intensely before their little girl screamed in agony.

                “Transcript Sealing: Memory Transfer!” shouted Somoku burning a black seal permanently onto Kasa’s arms. “Tesuri! Take her now!”

                With their daughter still screaming, she shove her into Tesuri’s waiting arms.

                “Somoku—” started Tesuri, but he couldn’t finish as she pressed her lips to his.

                “I love you,” she whispered against his lips as she grabbed his arm and their daughter’s arm. “Uzumaki Hijutsu: Jikukan Kekkai!”

                That was the last he saw of Somoku and shortly after reuniting with his daughter that was separated by the seal, they were separated again in order for him to keep her safe. He said never again would he allow those he loved die before him, but as Somoku noted, no one can control everything.

                It took a year before he saw his little girl again. In trying to divert the Iwa-nin that tried to kill her and steal the eye of the boy she saved, he was recruited by Konoha to assist them in the matters of the war. He couldn’t have refused. They had his daughter and he would be damned if he lets what happened to his little sister with Hanzo happen here with his daughter.

                With hardship, he eventually made it back to his daughter. While she did greet him with open arms, he found that she had attached herself to someone that was from Somoku’s clan. At first, he was furious that his daughter would replace her own mother so easily, but the anger didn’t linger as he found that in his absence the people of Konoha had sealed off unstable demonic chakra into his little girl.

                She was all but exiled because of what they placed in her. To see her cry and beg to stay, broke his heart and to find out the demon chakra was eating away at her mind was a twist of the knife. Fortunately, his child was resilient and overcame each obstacle fate threw at her in turn. Fear gripped at his heart the strongest when Hanzo had gotten his hand on her.

                When he married Somoku, they both vowed to be free from Akatsuki and attempted at a normal life, but obviously that didn’t happen.

                “Tesuri,” said Konan in surprise when he came them out of the blue.

                “…Konan, I need your help… Hanzo has my daughter,” begged Tesuri, he had no other option left to him.

                “…Nagato?” Konan looked to the other Uzumaki descendent and the redhead nodded.

                Despite abandoning them the way he had, Yahiko wasted no time in rounding up the rest of Akatsuki to help him retrieve his daughter. When he saw her motionless on the ground, his sanity nearly snapped if not for Konan’s reassuring hand on his shoulder and her confirmation of Kasa’s survival.  Without the help of Akatsuki, he wouldn’t have been able to retrieve his daughter. He owed them a debt that he would have to repay in the future.

                As much as he wanted to give his daughter a chance at the normal life, it was impossible. Kasa’s list of mishaps and failure were unending, but she was relentless with her drive to learn and the desire to grow stronger so that she could help those she cared for. It tugged at his heart to see so much of Somoku in their daughter.

                And like her mother, she hides everything behind a smile. It was near impossible for him to tell most of the time what she was thinking. Often times he worries for her lack of self-preservation, but it seems like she was cursed with the same fate as him and wouldn’t die so easily.

                If only that curse extended to keeping her sanity and health in check. With her status as an outsider she was constantly under scrutiny by the Konoha council. It drove him mad that he had no political pull in any village to protect her from such attacks.

                Fortunately, or unfortunately, his daughter still had family in the village, albeit very distant in relation, but the woman seemed fond of her. He was glad she someone to watch over her… only, he wished that they didn’t have to use an engagement farce to give such protections.

                “Tou-san,” said Kasa in exasperation. “I thought we’ve been through this already. There’s no one I’m interesting it. So stop worrying.”

                “…You sure now?” grumbled Tesuri as he held onto his daughter tightly, afraid that if he let go, she would disappear like everyone else.

                “Completely,” replied the girl dryly.

 She was the last of his family and while he wishes nothing but her happiness, he wasn’t about to give her up so easily.

“Don’t you think you’re taking this a little too far?” asked Kushina with a dry tone. “I mean it’s not like she’s engaged to any of them, must you plot for their deaths already?”

“Hardly, if those brats want my little Kasa, they’re going to have to go through me. I’m not letting anyone hurt my little girl. Not now, not ever,” declared Tesuri.

Kushina sighed as she turned to leave the room. “Whatever you say, but you do know that you can’t control everything in the world right?”

                Tesuri froze at those familiar words before the tenseness melted away. “…Yes, I do,” whispered the man.

                His tone soft and saddened. Kushina didn’t need to turn around to see how he looked.

                “Instead of wallowing in the past and worrying about the future, why don’t you just enjoy the present?” suggested Kushina. “That’s really all we can ever do.”

                “…Maybe I’ll try that… Thank you Uzumaki-san,” said Tesuri.

                Kushina sighed. “One of these days, I’ll get you to say my name.”

                A wry grin touched Tesuri’s lips. “You could try, but it’s not going to happen.”

                “I’ll find a way one of these days,” promised Kushina. “See you around!”

Tesuri smiled sadly as he watched her go. As much as Kushina reminded him of his wife, she wasn’t her. His heart now will only open for one person and one person alone.

“…Maybe I am a little too harsh on those boys…” murmured Tesuri as he paused in sharpening his scalpels. “…Like hell I am. Once they hit puberty, they’re going to be wolves. Better safe than sorry.” 

                As much grief as he faced in his life, his drive now, is to beat away potential suitors for his little girl. That in itself was a full-time job.

 


	2. Flower by the Still Water (花了靜水)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place after chapter 50

                For Hana Inuzuka, her life was decided the moment she gained the Haimaru brothers. None in her clan ever chose to live out their lives as a civilian, their blood would never allow it. The call for battle was strong in many of her clansmen. The question whether or not any of them wanted such a dangerous lifestyle was unnecessary.

                Before she could walk, the dogs in her clan taught her how to crawl and how to climb. The closeness to the canines in her family couldn’t be compared with any other. Their dogs didn’t serve them, they walked alongside them. If she decided on the path of a civilian, there would be no place for the Haimaru brothers. They would never shine without battle and she could never do that to them.

                While part of the alpha pack of the clan, she doesn’t share the same aggression as her mother. She never partook in the thrill of battle. To her, a fight was not something to enjoy, rather it meant something dear to her was in danger.

                In the academy, aside from spars she rarely got into any fights. The Haimaru brothers deterred any most from approaching… at least until a certain little auburn-haired idiot stepped into her life.

                Kasa Mon, the girl from Ame. Her mother spoke of her when she returned from the border of the Fire Country. At first, she didn’t believe her when she said the girl wasn’t the least bit terrified of Kuromaru’s ferocious appearance. Even grown men were terrified of her mother’s canine partner. How was it possible that an outsider that had nothing to do with the clan find him unthreatening? Not only that, from her mother’s recount of the return trip, the girl had great fondness over Kuromaru and even used him as a teddy bear when she slept.

                When she first saw her at the academy, Hana raised a brow. At a first glance, she thought the girl was no different from the civilians in the class. Dressed in a pleated khaki skirt, a baggy long-sleeved shirt and a blue-hooded vest, she looked utterly harmless. If not for the bandages peeking from the hem of her sleeves and the one on her face, she looked almost like a porcelain doll with how her hair framed her face and the thick braid swaying behind her.

                Harmless… at least until one gets to know her. Anyone who spent more than half an hour’s time with her would know the image of her fragility was nothing more than an illusion. The girl’s brashness could rival those of her clansmen. Trouble drew to her like magnets even when she made no effort to search for them.

                “Ka-sa, Ka-sa, Kasa the um-brel-la,” jeered her would be bullies.

                “Real mature, dipshits,” retorted Kasa.

                “Oh big words for being the dead last in the class,” taunted another boy.

                “Why don’t you come a bit closer and say that to my face? As I recall, this dead last beat your ass in combat training last week!” said the brash girl as she jumped onto her desk into a fighting stance and motioned her hand for the other to come at her.

                “That was a fluke,” said one of the boys. “We were just going easy on you.”

                “Oh, is that so? Let’s see how you like it after this dead last beats your ass!” snaps the girl as she charged.

                She didn’t help the matter either with her hotheadedness. No wonder her mother spoke so fondly of her. The girl didn’t carry herself in the conventional manner. Loud, abrasive and confrontational when pushed, Kasa wasn’t like most girls. Not to say she didn’t act like one, Hana witnessed on more than one occasion the delighted squeals and gushing cooing she made towards things she liked or things she thought were cute. Those moments were usually reserved for food, the Haimaru brothers and the occasional good grade.

                Unlike moments like these…

                “Kasa Mon, how many times have I told you no fighting in the classroom?” snapped Daikoku sensei in exasperation.

                “…Sorry sensei,” mumbled the girl while the class snickered.

                Hana felt bad for her. Being one of the youngest in the class, most saw her as an easy target to bully. Though, that didn’t seem to be the case for the other youngest. Itachi Uchiha, the heir to the Uchiha clan. The first moment she saw him, she could tell he came from a ninja clan, be it the glaring Uchiha crest on the back of his shirt or the manner he carried himself. Unlike Kasa, he didn’t give off the aura as someone that’s easily targeted. Despite being close in age, the two couldn’t be any more different than day and night.

                Yet, the two appeared to get along fairly well.

                “Must you always cause a scene?” droned Itachi as Kasa made her way pass his desk.

                “Bite me duck boy,” hissed the girl as she stormed back to her seat.

                …Maybe not fairly, but the two did get along better with each other compared with the rest of the class. Hana wasn’t sure if it was due to Itachi not joining the bullies or the fact that Kasa didn’t share the same childish infatuation the rest of the girls in the class. Whichever the reason, they appeared to have a mutual… tolerance of one another.

                Sure, Itachi would antagonize the auburn-hair girl whenever she did poorly and she him whenever his fan club decided to act up, but neither of them were ever venomous or hateful when doing so. If anything, they shared a level of fondness.

                “No thanks, I’m quite sure you taste nasty with the amount of tea you drink daily,” retorted the Uchiha dryly.

                “Screw you dango-fiend,” said Kasa childishly as she stuck out her tongue and made a face. “With the amount of sweets you secretly eat, you’re going get fat and die of diabetes.”

                “Uchihas don’t get fat. What do you think I have morning training with father?” noted Itachi, throwing the girl completely off.

                “…Wait what?” said Kasa in confusion before disbelief crossed her face. “You’re telling me that’s why Fugaku-san makes you train every morning?”

                “My father has a particular fondness for botamochi,” continued Itachi, his tone never going beyond his usual monotone.

                “Serious?” asked Kasa, agitation gone, replaced by bewildered wonder instead. “I never thought Fugaku-san liked sweets.”

                “Has anyone told you gullible was taken out of the dictionary?” commented Itachi.

                “Eh?” It took a split second before the girl’s face flushed red in embarrassment and her cheeks puffed up in irritation once more and threw a scroll at the Uchiha’s head. “I am not gullible!”  

                “Says the idiot that’s red as a tomato,” said Itachi as he caught the scroll and tossed it back.

                “Go fall into a ditch and die,” growled the girl as she stumbled to catch the scroll.

                Most days in the Academy, if Kasa didn’t pick fights with Itachi, she latched onto Hana and played with the Haimaru brothers. Had Hana been anyone else, she might’ve thought the friendship she shared with the younger girl relied purely on her having the Haimaru brothers, but she doubt it. If the girl really was that shallow, she would’ve made friends with the civilians instead.  

                No, something about her made her different from her peers. Be them civilian-born or shinobi-raised, she felt different from the rest. Hana was quite sure she wasn’t the only one who noticed, but she couldn’t say if their peers were conscious of their awareness either. Age couldn’t explain why everyone enjoyed bullying her more so than anyone else. 

                “Hana-chaaaan! Itachi’s being a dickwad!” whined Kasa as she latched her arms around the Inuzuka girl’s shoulders when class ended.

                “Kasa-chan,” said Hana with a sheepish grin. “What exactly do you want me to do about it?”

                “I don’t know… sic the Haimaru brothers on him?” suggested the auburn-haired girl in frustration.

                “You know I can’t do that,” sighed Hana in exasperation. “Outside of spars, we’re not allowed to attack each other maliciously.”

                “Then make them pee on him,” said Kasa childishly. “Anything would do at this point.”

                “…Kasa-chan, that’s not very hygienic,” said Hana awkwardly at the younger girl’s suggestion.

                “Idiot,” murmured Itachi as he walked pass.

                “Come back here and say it to my face duck-boy!” snapped Kasa as she released her friend and chased after the Uchiha.

                “Are they at it again?” chuckled Shisui as he came up from behind. Being several years older, Shisui had classes with the older students.

                “It’s rather one-sided,” sighed Hana in exasperation, but amusement touched her lips brief as she glanced over to the older boy. “I’m surprised that you haven’t stepped immediately to help Kasa.”

                “Nah, I’ll wait a bit. Kasa’s cute when she gets all riled up,” grinned Shisui.

                “Hmm?” Hana raised a brow at that comment.

                At the time, she didn’t think much of it since Shisui made a habit to say outrageous things just to get a reaction from Itachi. With how stoic the younger Uchiha acted, she wasn’t surprised that Shisui restorted to such tactics. However, in doing so, his words had less credibility, making it near impossible to tell whether he was joking or serious at times.

                Hearing him call Kasa cute or adorable wasn’t uncommon, he did the same for Itachi as well, but with Kasa…

                “Easy there Kasa-chan!” chirped Shisui as he latched his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug before she could pounce and attack Itachi.

                “Let go Shisui! I’m going to kick his ass!” roared the small girl.

                “It’s nice to dream,” commented Itachi before the girl flailed even harder to get out of Shisui’s hold.

                “Itachi-chan, it’s not nice to pick on a cute girl like Kasa-chan, even if you like her,” chided Shisui playfully. “And Kasa-chan, there are better ways to get Itachi’s attention than to attack him.”

                “Who said I was interested?” said Itachi with a raised brow.

                “My only interest with him right now, is planting my foot up his ass!” snapped Kasa.

                “Oh?” said Shisui as he hugged Kasa tighter to cease her movements. “Then does that mean I could have Kasa-chan? I play much nicer than Itachi.”

                “Shisui… can’t breathe…” whined Kasa as she struggled to break free from Shisui’s grasp.

                “Well, they say love takes your breath away, right?” chirped Shisui.

                “No, I’m quite sure you’re just crushing my lungs,” wheezed Kasa.

                “Aw, you’re just saying that because you’re shy,” grinned Shisui.

                “Nope, quite sure you just enjoy other people’s suffering,” rasped Kasa. “G-get off, you ass.”

                “Aw, I love you too,” laughed Shisui as he released her and retreated as she turned to attack him instead of Itachi.

                These instances happened often enough that most people would treat it as part of the norm and likely think Shisui did so to give Itachi a break whenever the girl got too rowdy and uncontrollable. While some might pass it as a quirk, Hana saw differently. She wasn’t sure when she first noticed the difference, but Shisui always seemed to have that closeness that bordered on possessiveness over Kasa. Aside from the classrooms, there were few that would dare to bully Kasa out in the open.

                Hana suspected the older Uchiha had a hand in this, but she couldn’t find any proof to prove her theories… at least until the day the Three-tails attacked Konoha.

                Kasa stood paralyzed the moment she saw the creature wreak havoc through the village. Regardless what Hana said, the girl wouldn’t respond. In the end she had to grab the younger girl by the arm and drag her along just so she wouldn’t get left behind. By the time they’ve reached the shelter, the auburn-haired girl was a trembling mess with her hands clasped together against her forehead in a prayer as she fought off the urge to sob and cry.

                As much as she wanted to comfort her friend, there was little any of them could do in such a situation. She could see Shisui’s troubled face as he tried to think of a way to cheer up the girl, he was at a lost too. Hard to reassure anyone with a demon outside destroying everything you’ve grown to know and love. There was no promise on who would survive.

                Yet, much to their surprise, Itachi attempted first. With soft words, barely audible with the quiet chattering of the other refugees, he attempted to distract her by drawing her into a conversation, but the sniffling girl immediately brushed him off with a shake of her head, refusing to talk. Even so, he continued to draw her into conversations, making her talk and listen to him as the conflict raged outside.

                As Hana and Shisui watched, their eyes widened in surprise when they saw Kasa’s eyes close and Itachi leaning forward. At the corner of her eye, Hana spotted Shisui tensing… but before anything else could happen, a delighted giggle echoed in the shelter before it blew into a full blown laugh. Hana snapped her attention back to the younger two in surprise and found Kasa on the ground shaking with laughter as she desperately tried to stifle her laughter under her hands.

                Turning her attention back to Shisui once more, she noticed the older Uchiha relaxing as he made his way to the duo.

                “Itachi, what did you do to her?” asked Shisui with a curious tone, though from Hana’s perspective, it was nothing more than a façade to hide the irritation beneath it.

                “Just a couple of words, that’s all,” replied Itachi offhandedly, not thinking much of what he managed to accomplish when no one else could think of anything.

                “What did you say?” Hana asked, choosing not to call Shisui out as she tried to bring some normalcy into the group. It was a relief to see Kasa returning back to her old self, even if only a little. There was no need to confront Shisui now and upset the girl again. “I’ve never seen her laugh so hard.”

                Itachi said nothing and Kasa eventually broke out of her fit of laughter and finally smiling once again. The four of them tried to pass the time with conversation, but it wasn’t long before Kasa lost herself in her thoughts again and the smile disappeared. Her brows furrowed in thought as if trying to figure out a puzzle or a problem. She saw that look on the auburn-haired girl’s face many times before while she struggled to memorize plant names and the various lines of poetry for kunoichi classes.

                “Kasa,” spoke up Itachi once more, drawing the girl out of her thoughts. “What are you planning?”

“Nothing,” said Kasa innocently.

                “I know that look on your face,” noted the boy.

                “What look?” she continued to feign cluelessness.

                The two continued to trade words, one trying to counter the other, but eventually Itachi won and the auburn-hair girl had no choice but to answer.

                 “I want to help,” murmured the girl quietly.

                “Kasa, you’re an academy student. You can’t help,” said Shisui firmly.

                “But I can! I think...” She continued to protest, but Shisui didn’t let up. He gave one reason after another to deter the girl, but even then she wouldn’t let up.

                “Even if we don’t stop you, how would you help?” asked Hana, deciding to help Shisui’s attempt to stop the girl. 

                “That’s the issue, I need to find the answer first,” murmured the girl absently as she scratched at her bandages.

                Hana frowned as she stared at the bandages, for as long as she knew Kasa, those bandages on her arms were always there. At first she thought maybe she hurt herself, but she wore bandages every day without fail.

                “The marks on your arms,” remarked Itachi. “They’re seals aren’t they?”

                Seals? Kasa looked mildly surprised at Itachi’s words, but she didn’t deny his claims. If anything she elaborated a bit more on them informing them that they were knowledge seals marked on her by her mother. She suggested that there might be something that they could use to help the situation. Hana highly doubt a child, like Kasa, would have the knowhow to handle a tailed beast, but she didn’t have the heart to disagree with the determined and hopeful look on her face.

                “Are you sure?” frowned Itachi. “Have you even used them before?”

                “Yeah!” retorted Kasa with an indignant huff. “I know how it works. Kushina-san and Minato-san been training me!”

                “Kasa…” Itachi didn’t sound like she believed her and he wasn’t the only one, both Shisui and Hana

                “I’ll be fine!” She waved it off. “Though… get sensei if something goes wrong.”

                The trio’s eyes widened. “Something goes—”

                Before any of them could do a thing, Kasa charged up chakra to her hand and slapped it down on top of the bandages. Immediately, her eyes glazed over like a lifeless doll.  

                “Kasa!” Hana shouted as she reached for her friend, but the Uchiha boys were quicker.

                Both boys grabbed an arm each trying to force her arms apart, but as if held by an unknown force, neither of them could pry her arm away from the death grip of her hand. The girl’s lips moved rapidly as if reading or chanting. She looked almost possessed with her lifeless eyes and mechanic murmurings. They could do nothing as she continued to ramble in a quiet whisper. Eventually, a stream of blood came from her nose as her body started to tense and convulse.

                “Kasa! Let go of your arm right now!” snapped Shisui as he and Itachi forcibly pulled at her arms.

                Her hand slacken and the two boys managed to pry her arms apart. She sat there in a daze as her nose continued to drip blood.

                “Kasa-chan!” Hana hastily pressed a tissue to the younger girl’s nose as she tried to stem the blood flow. “Are you all right?”

                The girl remained in a daze, blinking slowly as they fussed over her. Even Itachi’s constant attempts couldn’t draw her out of it. Hana feared for the worst that maybe her friend screwed up and injured herself in the worst way possible. However, before any of them could scream for a teacher, she spoke.

                “…I got it,” whispered the girl.

                “Kasa?” called out Hana in worry.

                “I totally had it!” whooped the girl in joy as she jumped up and darted away from them.

                “Kasa, where are you going?” shouted Shisui as he got up to chase her with Itachi close behind, but before either of them could make it to the exit, their Academy sensei caught them and promptly tied them up.

                “It’s too dangerous for either of you to be heading out!” scolded Daikoku sensei.

                “But Kasa—” Shisui started to protest, but never finished.

                “No buts! It’s too dangerous to head out! Someone will bring her back, you two are you stay here! No exceptions!” said the portly chunin.

                The two tried to talk their way out of captivity, but their sensei would not give in regardless how desperately they begged him. Hana watched as the two fell silent, seeming broken from being unable to leave to help Kasa. Daikoku gave an exasperated sigh as he glanced towards Hana.

                “Don’t you think about going after Kasa either,” said the man before the Inuzuka girl ducked down her head.

                “Yes sir,” murmured the girl quietly.

                “You can stay and talk with them, but if you free them, I’m tying you up too,” warned Daikoku before he turned his attention to watch over the rest of the Academy students.

                “Shisui, Itachi,” started Hana, but younger Uchiha interrupted.

                “Are your hands loose?” asked Itachi to Shisui.

                “Yeah,” replied Shisui quietly.

                “I’ll make the genjutsu clone of you, I should be able to hold it long enough for you to get out,” said Itachi.

                “What?” hissed Hana in a low whisper. “Didn’t you hear what sensei say? It’s too dangerous to head out!”

                “Exactly,” replied Itachi. “That idiot is out there and she’ll get herself killed if we don’t drag her back. Shisui is the fastest one out of us three, he’ll be able to get out as long as I provide the dummy, but the issue is that he won’t be able to find her in this chaos. Can you lend him one of the Haimaru brothers?”

                “But…” Hana protested, but the determined looks on both boys’ faces made her sigh in defeat. “If you’re going, I’m coming with you.”

                “Hana!” whispered Shisui loudly.

                “The Haimaru brothers are not to be separated,” said the girl firmly. “If something happened to one of them, it would kill the other two by heartbreak and I’m not about to leave my partners to face such dangers alone. I’m coming.”

                Silence fell on the three as a battle of wills started. Neither Uchiha boy wanted to put Hana in any more danger, but likewise she refused to abandon them.

                “…I could create one more illusionary clone.” Itachi broke the silence.

                “Itachi!” hissed Shisui.

                “We don’t have time to argue,” said Itachi in quiet seriousness. “The more time we waste, the higher the chance of something happening to that idiot. I could hold the illusion for a couple of minutes at least. Just go, I’ll take of things here.”

                Shisui gritted his teeth, but nodded. “Hana, you ready?”

                The girl nodded and immediately, Itachi went through the hand seals for the Clone Jutsu with his hands still tied behind his back. Within seconds, two perfect clones of them appeared beside him while Shisui grabbed Hana’s wrist and dragged her along to the exit.

                With shelter tightly guarded, she thought they would get caught in no time, but somehow Shisui knew when to duck into an alcove to hide and wait for the guards to pass. It didn’t take long for them to exit the shelter and to the staircase of the Hokage Monument that looked over the village. From where they stood, they could see the Three-Tailed Demon flailing and screaming bloody murder.

                “Hana, which way?” demanded Shisui immediately as he turned to her.

                “Right, Haima—” Hana pause when she spotted the red eyes staring back at her. “Shisui, your eyes.”

                “It’s just the sharingan,” brushed off the older Uchiha. “Now which way did she go?”

                “Sorry,” apologized Hana, but before she could command any of her dogs, a loud explosion took place not too far from the demon and a giant frog showed up, lashing out its tongue to catch something that fell from the demon.

                “Wait… is that…?” Shisui frowned as he narrowed his eyes trying to see despite the long distance. “It’s Kasa! What the hell is she doing? The demon’s right there!”

                “How can you see?” asked Hana as she squinted her eyes trying to make out what he saw, but she couldn’t see anything beyond the demon and the giant frog.

                “NO!” roared the demon before a puff of cloud appeared and the demon disappeared.

                “Kasa!” shouted Shisui as he grabbed onto the banister.

                “What? What’s happened?” asked Hana frantically as the Uchiha boy’s face paled. “What’s going on Shisui?”

                “…No,” whispered the boy, shaking his head as he turned to run.  

                “Shisui!” shouted Hana as she chased after him.

                The Uchiha boy ran as if possessed. Hana had a difficult time in keeping up with his pace, but with the Haimaru brothers, she found him with ease even when she lost sight of him. As she followed her dogs, she realized Shisui ran towards where the demon stood before. The closer she got, the more destruction she saw.

                By the time she found Shisui, he was on his knees with the palm of his hands pressed against his eyes. His breath ragged, his jaw tensed with clenched teeth and Hana watched as he resisted the urge to scream in frustration and anger. Hana stood quietly as he strained to reign back the scream that desperately wanted to escape

                It wasn’t until the Haimaru brothers nudged her leg to warn her of the ninjas coming to the area, she wouldn’t have known to move and reach out to Shisui. They needed to leave before they were found or else they’d just get drag back to the shelters.  

                “Shisui…We have to go,” whispered Hana when she got to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder.

                “H-Hana…” choked out Shisui, his voice broken and caught in his throat as he desperately tried to gather himself. “Kasa… she’s… she’s…”

                Hana bit her lower lip as she could guess what Shisui wanted to say. She moved forward, slipping her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a hug. From his deep breathing, she could tell he did his best to calm down. When he finally did so and lowered his hands, she found herself staring into his red eyes once more, but this time, his pupil appeared in the shape of a shuriken. Why was it like that?

                “Thank you Hana, let’s go,” said Shisui hoarsely, but before he never managed to get up. His eyes faded black as his body slumped over unconscious.

                “Shisui!” Hana barely had enough time to catch him before he landed face first into the ground. “Hey, are you okay? Hey!”

                Regardless how she shook him or slapped him, the Uchiha wouldn’t wake. Even though his breathing and his pulse didn’t seem all that off, she found herself terrified for the older boy. Hana felt close to hyperventilating as she lowered Shisui to the ground and held his head protectively on her lap. Her eyes darted about, surveying the area for threats as she forced herself to calm down.

                Hana knew her options were limited. In this chaos, she’d be lucky to run into an adult if she ran off frantically searching for help. She thought to try to drag the older boy along, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to get far. Even if she could haul him up, she didn’t have the strength or stamina to keep it up for long.

                “H-Haimaru!” Her voice quaked, but she reigned it in with firmness as she turned to her canine companions. “Find help.”

                The three pups were reluctant at the command. They didn’t want to abandon her, not with how terrified she looked.  

                “Go! Get someone, anyone would do!” snapped Hana.

                When she looked back at this moment years later, she would often cover her face in embarrassment. It was perfectly normal for a five-year-old to be terrified in such a situation, but she took pride in being the most level-headed compared to her peers. That day only stood as proof that she was only a child and regardless how mature she acted, she was no different from the other children.

                However, not even embarrassment could distract her for long. Not when there were more interesting things about. As she noted before, she never found any proof of Shisui’s peculiarity when regarding to Kasa. His actions were consistent enough that no one would ever think twice about there being something more. Hana herself wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t been watching him the whole time.

                She suspected that his fondness for Kasa was greater than what he showed, but she never expected… She shook her head.

                In the aftermath of the Three-tail’s attack, the Haimaru brothers managed to find a jounin that scoured the village for survivors and the injured. Shisui suffered a mild case of chakra exhaustion and was given a soldier pill and a brief scolding. Hana didn’t have to be a genius to know that Shisui overused his sharingan in their attempts to get out of the shelter and to find Kasa.

                With how distraught he was when he first ran off, she hazard a guess that Kasa was either dying from a severe injury… or actually dead. She never saw Shisui in such a state. She expected him to be last person to ever break down. Kasa must’ve meant a lot even if they haven’t even known each other for a year. Even so, she wasn’t Shisui’s biggest obsession. No, that would be Itachi.

                “Don’t tell Itachi,” whispered Shisui in a hoarse croak as they made their way back to the shelter after he recovered enough to walk. “He’d…”

                “…He’d notice,” said Hana quietly. “You know he would.”

                “I know, but…” Shisui sighed. “Just… hold off telling him for as long as you can.”

                As much as the older Uchiha obsessed over Kasa, prior to her appearance, Itachi had been in the center of his attention prior to her appearance. She hadn’t known either Uchiha boys before she became friends with Kasa, but she saw them on occasion outside of the Academy. While the level affection of obsession differed between the two, there was no doubt that Shisui held the two of them dearly.

                …To the point that it looked like he tried to pair the two together at every any given chance.

                “Itachi, you’re not going to say anything?” commented Shisui as he urged the younger boy to talk.

                Despite what Shisui believed, Kasa managed to survive whatever that placed her in the hospital. The girl made some ridiculous excuse of having a sign fall on her while running about in the village. None of them believed her ridiculous lie. The injuries she sustained and the obvious seal on her head proved enough, but no one wanted to call her out on it. They didn’t have the heart to. The three of them knew that Kasa was a horrible liar.

                Like an open book, she wore her heart at her sleeve. Hana often thought her friend naïve and oblivious, but who could blame her with how her friend acted? When Kasa’s father returned and supposedly took her from Konoha due to health reasons, the girl fell quiet and listless. It wasn’t until she realize that her departure from Konoha wasn’t permanent that she started crying and laughing like the loveable idiot Hana grew to adore, promising she would return as soon as she could.

                In the year that Kasa left, Hana noticed Shisui reverting his attention back to Itachi once more. Constantly teasing and testing the younger Uchiha’s patience with jokes and affectionate gestures. Hana noticed that Itachi grew reclusive as time passed. Aside from their auburn-haired friend, there was no one else that would openly insult him and challenge him at every turn.

                Not that Kasa ever stood as a challenge. While everyone placed him on a pedestal because of his prodigy status, she didn’t treat Itachi differently. Even though she ranked dead last and he took the top ranking in each grading period, she didn’t gawk at him in amazement or compliment him at every turn. If anything, she dismissed his achievements and goes off challenging him with the weirdest battle propositions.

                At first, it was odd to not hear the random bouts of challenges, but eventually everything settled into a dull haze. For a year, life went on as if Kasa never existed in their lives. Konoha gained a new Hokage, Itachi and Hana each gained a little brother and things went on.

                Hana was tempted to say she was disheartened by the fact that her friend’s memory slowly faded and forgotten… but then being the trouble magnet she was, Kasa returned in the aftermath of the Kyubi’s attack. No letter or warning, the girl just decided to appear out of the blue when the classes at the Academy postponed and students were drafted to help out with the village’s repairs.

                “Yo!” waved Kasa cheerily during line-up as if she never left in the first place.

                “…You’re late,” said Itachi in a deadpan not a moment later.

“What took you so long?” returned Shisui cheerily as if he saw her only the day before.

                “Sorry! Had a detour with future international S-Class criminals of the world,” laughed the girl as she spouted her usual nonsense. “Hi Hana!”

                And like that, she slipped back into everyone’s life as if nothing happened. To this day, Hana couldn’t figure out how her friend managed pull it off with such ease.

                Once the village managed to regain some semblance of order, classes at the Academy resumed. Kasa being the impossible girl she, declared that she would graduate from the Academy within the year. Hana thought the whole notion seem ridiculous, but that didn’t deter her friend in the least. She watched as Kasa plowed through fevers and challenges on pure determination. Much to her surprise, the auburn-haired girl managed to graduate, albeit dead last of the graduating class, but succeeded nonetheless.

                Of all the things she expected, she didn’t expect the Uchiha boys to graduate as well. Though she didn’t share the same closeness to them as Kasa, she felt oddly left out at their graduation.

                “You okay?” asked Shisui the next time they met, over half a year later when Kasa ended up in the hospital yet again due to her recklessness.

                “I’m perfectly fine…Unlike Kasa,” said Hana quietly as they stared at Kasa’s prone form on the bed. No part of her was bare of bandages. Her hair gone and her face showed signs of first degree burns. The medics placed in a healing coma to spare her the agonizing pain.

                “You seem a bit down,” commented Shisui.

                Hana shot him a raised brow as if questioning his choice of words.

                “Okay, maybe that’s not the most appropriate thing to say under these circumstances,” said Shisui sheepishly. “But I doubt Kasa would be happy to see you down.”

                Hana said nothing as she turned her attention back to her comatose friend. For a moment they stayed in silence with only the sound of Kasa’s faint raspy breaths.

                “...She’s a reckless idiot,” said Hana quietly.

                “No arguments there,” agreed Shisui with a chuckle. “But that’s part of her charm wouldn’t you say? She wouldn’t be Kasa if she wasn’t reckless.”

                “I suppose,” murmured Hana as she snuck a glance of the older Uchiha at the corner of her eye. “Say… do you by any chance like Kasa?”

                “Hmm?” Shisui turned his attention to her curiously. “Why do you ask?”

                “…No reason, just curious,” said Hana offhandedly.

                “Curiosity huh?” hummed Shisui thoughtfully. “Mm… I guess you can say I like her.”

                “What?” said Hana in surprise, not expecting such a casual admittance.

                “Something wrong?” asked the boy with a disarming grin.

                “…You just admitted you like Kasa,” said Hana utterly dumbfounded.

                “You like her too,” chirped Shisui. “Otherwise why would you come visit her?”

                It took a moment before Hana realized that she had been duped. Even though Shisui freely gave his answer, the manner he said it made it sound like he interpreted her words differently. However, that wasn’t enough to fool her. She watched him for long enough to know his evasive habits.     

                “Kasa’s popular isn’t she?” continued Hana as she ignored his attempt to evade her question. “It seems like every time I see her, there’s someone new that likes her.”

                “Is that so?” said Shisui.

                “Yep,” nodded Hana as she tapped her nose. “It’s a bit hard to pick up with how strong the disinfectant smell is in the hospital, but he had a particular woody scent to him that reminds me of the morning dew deep in the forest.”

                “Really now?” said Shisui cheerily. “Maybe we’ll ask Kasa to introduce us to her new friend. The more the merrier, right?”

                His deceptively cheerful tone didn’t distract Hana from the slight twitch at the older boy’s hand. She definitely got a reaction out of him.

                “Maybe,” agreed Hana as she ended their conversation there. She didn’t find the need to force Shisui any further. She had her answer.

                It would be some time before Kasa recovered enough to be roused from her healing coma and even longer before she could leave the hospital. Sandaime assigned her to the hospital for the span of half a year as punishment for her reckless abandonment.

                At first it looked as though she engrossed herself into her duties, but as the months passed and Hana realized her friend used it as an excuse to avoid the Uchiha boys. She had no clue what happened between the three since Kasa’s hospitalization. Hana briefly thought maybe the younger girl became infatuated with her woody-scent visitor, but she knew better. Anyone who knew Kasa for more than a few hours would know that silly girl crushes were not something she indulged in. She rather spend her time occupied with something more useful.

                At the loss of a possible reason, Hana found herself back to her initial question once more. What happened between the trio? They never had such distance between before. It wasn’t until she became a genin that managed to drag Kasa off to confront the two. The level of awkwardness that followed was indescribable.

                For Hana, she always saw Kasa as the loud and reckless idiot that charged headfirst into every situation without a care. To have her quiet and reluctant, brought a startling new light to Hana’s observations. As much of an idiot Kasa made herself out to be, she had her moments of fragility and uncertainty. That much she could see when she dragged her off to Itachi’s home.

                “SASA-NEE!” shouted Naruto as he plowed into Kasa with glee.

                The girl was surprised at his presence, but relaxed when the smaller boy babbled excitedly to her about his day in the Uchiha household.

                While Hana hadn’t expected the younger boy, he gave her a perfect opportunity to leave the auburn-hair girl and let her talk it out with Itachi. She sent the Haimaru brothers to keep Naruto and Sasuke occupied while she listened in.

                “…Uh…Hey,” said the girl lamely before falling silent once more.

                As the silence stretched, Hana thought she might need to intervene to help the conversation along, but it wasn’t needed.

                “Even after months of not seeing you, you’re still the same space head,” droned Itachi before Kasa blew up with indignation and duck threats.

                …So much for the reserved silence. Regardless how Kasa tried to control herself, Itachi always seemed to be able to find a way to rile up the auburn-haired girl either in anger or laughter.

                “Ooh! Is Kasa doing duck threats again?” joined in Shisui in a cheery tone.

                “What are you doing here?” said Itachi in a drone.

                “Aw, don’t be like that Itachi-chan! It’s been ages since we’ve seen Kasa! Be nice and share!” said Shisui in his usual cheer.

                Hana kept silent as the conversation continued into the usual bickering banter that followed whenever the trio gathered. To a casual listener, their conversation sounded nothing more than a group of friends catching up. There was nothing outstanding worth mentioning... at least on the surface.

                Nothing ever should be taken at face value, not in a village of ninjas. Lies and deception played a part of the shinobi lifestyle, to the point that it slipped into their daily lives without much thought. While the conversation between the three meant nothing to an outsider, it spoke volumes to Hana.

                Something happened between them that discomforted Kasa enough to avoid them.  Though it didn’t seem like any one of them was at fault, the boys were more than willing to pretend it never happened if only to spare Kasa. The mystery served to peak Hana’s curiosity further, but even so it didn’t deter the generous amount of physical affection that Shisui shared whenever in Kasa’s presence… Did he and Itachi have a fight over her?

                When she learned of the trio’s teams joining to take the chunin exams in Kiri, she thought they would be inseparable. Yet, barely a week since their three teams started training together, Hana found Shisui strolling the streets alone.

                “Yo!” greeted Shisui cheerily when he spotted her. “It’s been a while. Just finished with your missions?”

                “It’s my day off,” answered Hana with a vague wave. “Where’s Itachi and Kasa? It’s rare to see you without them.”

                “They’re on a date,” chirped Shisui.

                “Date?” repeated Hana with widen eyes before she caught herself. “By date, you mean…?”

                “Equipment shopping,” replied Shisui cheekily. “They took Sasuke with them.”

                “…That’s not a date,” said Hana in a deadpan.

                “That’s as close as a date they’re going to get for now anyway,” continued Shisui as he wiped away a fake tear. “Oh, they grow up so fast!”

                Hana let out an exasperated sigh as she crossed her arms. “I don’t get you.”

                “Hmm?” hummed Shisui with an inquisitive tilt of his head.

                “I could tell you like Kasa,” said Hana.

                “Of course I do, I thought we had this conversation already,” said Shisui in good humor.

                “Yet, you constantly try make everyone believe that she and Itachi are an item,” continued Hana as she ignored his attempt in thwarting her words. “Why don’t you just tell her instead of using such an indirect way of driving a wedge between them?”

                “What do you mean?” asked Shisui with confusion over his face.

                “Stop playing dumb, you know very well what Kasa is like,” continued Hana. “The more you push her towards something, the more she’ll resist and shy away from it. By constantly trying to pair her up with Itachi, you’re making sure she never gets together with him. It’s such an underhanded tactic.”

                Shisui blinked, bafflement crossing his face. “Wow… I didn’t know you thought so poorly of me.”

                “I have nothing against you,” said Hana. “But I don’t think Kasa would like someone who would be so underhanded in…”

                “Itachi!” said Shisui in surprise as he darted around her and raced over to the younger Uchiha. The boy was disheveled, clothes covered in rips and dust. On his back, he carried an unconscious Kasa that looked in a similar state.

                “Oh my god, what happened?” Hana covered a hand to her mouth as she raced over.

                “Nothing, the idiot just got overzealous against some cats,” said Itachi in exasperation. “She’ll be fine after her chakra recovers.”

                “She’s fine, but what about you?” fussed Shisui as he waved at the younger Uchiha’s arms. “You’re covered in cuts! Did you even treat those yet?”

                Hana blinked in surprise as she watched the older Uchiha scold Itachi. This did not expect this at all. She thought that maybe the three of them were in some sort of a love triangle and that he was doing whatever he could to force Itachi and Kasa apart. Yet, seeing how he fuss and worried over Itachi, she needed to reevaluate her theory.

                “Hey Hana, could you lend us a hand? Itachi looks like he’s about to drop and I don’t think I could carry both him and Kasa,” said Shisui as he pulled their friend off Itachi’s back.

                “R-right!” said Hana as she moved to haul Kasa’s arm over her shoulder.

                Shisui’s actions confused her. Regardless what she thought, he would always prove her wrong. She couldn’t read him at all and it bothered her. It bothered her so much that she enacted on the boldness of her clan that she usually avoided. She invited him out just so she could wrangle him for answers.

                “So…” dragged out Shisui several days before it came time for the three teams to leave for Kiri. “You wanted to ask me about something?”

                “Why are you so confusing?” snapped Hana in irritation, never before had she felt so annoyed at someone because she couldn’t read them.

                “Excuse me?” asked Shisui in confusion.

                “Why do you do the things you do?” snapped Hana. “You like Kasa, I know you do! But at the same time you’re constantly trying to get her together with Itachi! I know you care for him too, but why would you go so out of you way to do this? It’s not like Itachi is interested in Kasa and Kasa’s not interested in anyone!  So why would you ruin your own chances with her by trying to set her up with Itachi?”

                Shisui stood silent for a moment, digesting the words she violently threw at him.

                “Hmm… why indeed,” murmured Shisui as he held his chin thoughtfully. “No one’s ever asked me that before.”

                “And?” continued Hana as she waited for him to give her a logical explanation.

                “Why do you want to know _Hana-chan_?” Shisui glanced at her at the corner of his eye as a grin crossed his lips.

                “Because I don’t like being confused,” replied Hana. “Your actions make no sense!”

                “By any chance,” continued Shisui with a disarming smile. “Are you doing all this because you like me?”

                “W-what?” Hana spluttered indignantly as her face turn red. “I am doing no such thing! Stop trying to change the subject and answer the question!”

                “Ah sorry, I guess that was presumptuous of me to assume,” said Shisui as his shoulders shook with mirth.

                “Answer the question!” demanded Hana, face red from both indignation and embarrassment.

                “Well, since you asked so nicely,” said Shisui offhandedly. “How about we play a game?”

                “Game?” frowned Hana. “You’re treating this like a game?”

                “Yep,” agreed Shisui. “You can ask all the questions you want and I’ll answer, but you’ll have to figure out if I’m telling the truth or not.”

                “Really, you’re really going to treat this as a game,” said Hana in annoyance.

                “What fun would it be otherwise?” chirped Shisui.

                Hana found herself too irritated for words when she decided to leave the conversation for another day. Slowly, but surely, her curiosity got the better of her and she decided to take up Shisui’s game. Between training, missions and the chunin exams, it was near impossible to set up a time so that they could meet. Even so, Hana wasted no time as she plotted for ways to get Shisui to spill the reasoning behind his actions.

                Their meetings were few and far in between, but the few times they managed, Hana found herself enjoying herself as she tried to decipher the puzzle that was Shisui Uchiha. She was not infatuated with him, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy his company.

                As time went on, she picked out Shisui’s odd quirks and broke it down piece by piece. She was quite certain of the older boy’s interest in Kasa, but have yet to make him openly admit it… At least until that day…

                “Hana-chan!” sung Kasa cheerily as she snuck up behind Hana during one of her and Shisui’s meetings.

                “K-Kasa-chan!” yelped Hana with a jump.

                “Fufufu,” chuckled the girl slyly. “Do my little eyes spy a pair of lovebirds chirping nearby?”

                “I-it’s not what you think!” said Hana with flailing hands, face flushed as she denied her claims.

                Her friend went on and on, each claim more outrageous than the last. To make it worse, Shisui decided to join in not a moment later escalating the ridiculous claims by leaps and bounds. Both he and Kasa teased her mercilessly, letting up briefly to go on about the current news in Konoha before resuming the teasing once more.

                “We’re not dating!” screeched Hana before she finally snapped and turned to the Uchiha. “Shisui tell her!”

                “She wouldn’t believe me even if I said it,” replied Shisui in turn.

                “Tell her!” growled Hana.

“All right, all right,” sighed Shisui in fake exasperation before he did what Hana didn’t expect and spoke seriously. “Kasa?”

                “Yes?” The girl blinked in surprise at the tone switch.

                “I would have to agree with Hana that your guess is incorrect,” said Shisui with half-lidded eyes as he leaned forward and lifted Kasa’s chin with the curl of two fingers. Hana found her breath hitch as Kasa stared up into his eyes in confusion. “Because the one I’m in love with… is you.”

                …He said it. He really said it.

                Hana was floored. She thought he would’ve done it jokingly and pulled Kasa into another one of their silly love confession routines, but he didn’t. He genuinely told her.

                “…Shisui,” whispered Kasa in a quiet grimace as she grasped onto his hand with hers. Horror crossed Hana’s face as she finally realized why Shisui never confessed. “…I love you too from the bottom of my heart, but…”

                “…It’s not the same as mine, I know,” replied Shisui softly with a sullen expression as he grasped onto her hands and held them to his lips.

                Hana’s breath hitched once more as she covered a hand over her mouth as the heartbreaking scene unfolded before her.

                “Sorry.” Kasa pulled away, distancing herself.

                “…The person you like is Itachi right?” noted Shisui with a bittersweet smile.

                “That can’t happen either,” murmured Kasa. “You know that. Not with…Naori-san…”

                The two fell silent and Hana felt her heart torn at the sight before her. How could she have been so blind? No wonder Shisui never tried pursuing her, Kasa… Their sullen faces served to send her deeper into guilt.

                “Kasa…Shisui,” said Hana hoarsely as she couldn’t decide who to comfort first. “I…I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have said anything. I didn’t kn—”

                Abrupt laughter filled the air as the two broke their solid mask and revealed the farce of the whole confession.

                “You thought we were serious?” wheezed Kasa as she leaned against Shisui, desperate for support. “Oh god, Shisui, I’m dying!”

                “But he—you…what?” spluttered Hana incoherently. “You were joking!?”

                The two fell into another fit of laughter and continued into another act, teasing Hana mercilessly before Kasa finally decided to leave. As if serving an encore to Hana’s embarrassment, Shisui waited until Kasa was halfway down the block before he shouted out another confession.

                “I love you Kasa!” shouted Shisui with his hands cupping at the side of his mouth.

                “Love you too!” shouted back the auburn-hair girl in good humor before she left for good.

                Hana planted a hand against her face in a poor attempt to hide her embarrassment, but it did little to help.

                “You enjoy doing this to me don’t you?” sighed Hana.

                “Well,” grinned Shisui in amusement as he glanced back at her. “I did tell you she wouldn’t believe me even if I told her.”

                Embarrassment fading, Hana said nothing as she cracked an eye open to peak through the cracks between her fingers. Even after all this time, she couldn’t tell whether or not his words were genuine, but she supposed it was something that she’ll have to continue the game to find out.


	3. The Observing Scarecrow (観察かかし)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final Count: 38 pages and 29,067 words.
> 
> Recap chapters 1-65 in Kakashi's POV

Throughout his life, Kakashi prided himself in being able to see what others could not. He prided the genius that everyone around him praised. He prided his ability to never walk down the path his father took. Yet, it was that hubris from such pride that cost him his eye and his teammate. There wasn't even a body to bury him. He stood in front of the memorial stone filled with guilt and anger. If he was less stubborn, if he had just listened…

Any words he said or wanted to say to Obito died at his lips when he felt someone approach. The footsteps were light, but hardly quiet as it dragged across the ground in a manner that could only be a civilian child.

"What are you staring at?" asked an auburn-haired little girl.

An innocent question on her part, but not one Kakashi wanted to humor. He supposed he could've left, but he wasn't about to run away from a civilian child. With any luck, she would probably leave once she gotten bored.

"You look sad," continued the girl.

No such luck.

"Is that so?" droned Kakashi quietly as he kept his gaze on Obito's neatly etched name on the stone.

"You know, he's going to be sad too if you stay that way," said the girl offhandedly.

Kakashi found himself stiffen at those words. Why was she still talking to him? Why couldn't she just leave him alone?

"Is that what they told you when you lost someone?" said Kakashi bitterly. "You do know those words won't change a thing. In the end, they're still gone."

He knew his words were harsh and cruel, but he was in no mood to humor her. That was something Obito would've done. All he wanted was to grieve in silence… but it didn't seem like she would allow him to do so.

"No, your friend told me," said the girl.

"Friend?" frowned Kakashi as he stared down at her.

"Yep!" chirped the girl as she clasped her hands behind her back and leaned sideways to look up at him in a way that a lot of civilian girls did to make themselves appear cute. "He said he's angry at you for being a bastard and wasting his sacrifice… also, he wants his goggles back."

At those words, he had no clue what to think or how to act. There was no doubt the  _he_  in her words implied Obito, but his teammate was  _dead_ and _buried_  under the rubble of the rocky prison they were trapped in. To dreg up his memories and toy with his already distraught emotions…

"Who told you to tell me this?" demanded the furious silver-haired jounin with a darken voice.

The cheerful grin on the girl's face dropped as it paled with fear. He hadn't noticed before, but now he had a better look, her arms were bandaged and her clothes were rather disheveled, caked in grime and dust. She looked as though she hasn't changed her clothes in a week or more, but he could catch a faint whiff of disinfectant around her as though she's been to the hospital recently in the past hour.

"Not if you're going to be like that," said the girl as she attempted a light-hearted tone, but the fear was clear on her face.

"Tell me who told you to tell me this," grounded out Kakashi. His words laced with cold anger.

"Eep!" squeaked the girl as she took a step back and turned to scramble away. It didn't take much for him to latch his hand onto the back of her shirt and hauled her up.

"I'll ask one last time.  _Who_  told you to do this?" growled Kakashi as he glared down at the terrified girl. " _Tell me!_ "

Panic set into the girl as she started to flail and scream. "Obito help! He's going to kill me!"

"Obito?" whispered Kakashi in surprise as his only visible eye widened.

Before he could question the girl further, a shadow appeared at his side and forced him to drop the flailing girl to defend himself. The girl, he spotted at the corner of his eye, scrambled away in haste. Kakashi didn't mind her for long as he blocked a blow to his right, somewhat surprised his attacker didn't choose to attack his blind-side. Quite possible his attack was an idiot.

Kakashi slipped out of his block and grabbed his attacker's arm. With a tightened grip over the other's arm, he shifted and pulled the other's weight over his shoulder before he pinned him to the ground. With his kunai pressed against the attacker's neck, it stopped any retaliation. However, what he didn't expect to see was a familiar face staring back at him.

"Oww… what the hell Kakashi?" protested Obito as he grimaced over being slammed to the ground and pinned. "This was supposed to be my badass return!"

"…O…Obito?" croaked out Kakashi in weak disbelief. How…He saw him… Kakashi shook his head with vehemence and pressed the kunai harder into the other's neck. This was a trick, this couldn't be his teammate. "You're not him! Who are you? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Hey! Hey! Watch where you're pointing that thing!" shouted the fake as he tried to inch away. ""I just got out of the hospital! I don't want to go back there again!"

"Who are you?" growled Kakashi, unwilling to believe that this person was Obito. He turned his glare to the small girl from earlier. She stood a short distance away, still watching the conflict despite her fear. "Who are either of you? Did the Uchiha send you to do this?"

He wouldn't put it pass that clan to pull a ridiculous stunt as this. They were furious to find their prized doujutsu in the hands of an outsider when he returned from the mission. They had even petitioned for him to return the only memento he had left to remember his precious friend by.

"Uchiha? Why would they do that?" said the fake in confusion, but he wasn't looking at him. His eye was on the strange girl who grimaced at the violence. "Hey, I'm talking to you bastard!"

The fake slipped out of his pin-hold and kicked him off. Kakashi managed to catch himself before the kick connected, but the kunai in his hand managed to nick the other in doing so. He reoriented himself through the air as he glanced back at the fake, but the image of Obito remained. He thought the transformation would disappear after taking damage, but that didn't seem to be the case.

"Why is it always the face?" grumbled the dark-haired image of Obito with a hiss as he raised his sleeve to press against the cut. "Man, that stings."

"Your genjutsu skill is good to be able to maintain the illusion after taking damage," said Kakashi as he crouched in a fighting stance. "I'll give you that, but I'll make you show me your true face."

"This  _is_  my true face dipshit!" shouted the other. "For a prodigy, you're freaking stupid if you haven't notice I'm not dead!"

"I don't believe you," glowered Kakashi with a narrowed eye.

"For the love of—" The other threw up his hands in the air in a manner that resembled Obito's exasperation. "You know what? Screw this! If you want a fight bastard, you got one! Jounin or no jounin! I'm going to kick your ass! Kasa-chan take cover. I'm going to teach this bastard a lesson!"

So the girl's name is Kasa… He would give points to the fake for getting Obito's personality down so flawlessly. It was almost as if he was talking to the real thing…. But a fake was a fake and he won't let them soil Obito's memory in such a way.

"As if you'll get the chance," growled out Kakashi as he charged forward.

"Bring it on!" roared the other as he too pulled out his own kunai and charged.

Kunai clashed with kunai, fists met with fists, but surprisingly no jutsu were thrown out by either. At first he thought maybe the Uchihas didn't want the eye damaged or the reprimand from the hokage if the matter was brought up to the elderly man, but after ten minutes of a taijutsu standstill he found a glimmer of hope bubbling at the bottom of his stomach.

"Shit," wheezed the dark-haired young man. "Had enough yet?"

"You?" ragged out Kakashi breathlessly as his hand tightened over his kunai. Despite the hopefulness he had, he couldn't let his guard down.

"Ha!" coughed the other. "I'm just getting started! But uh…" He dropped his free hand to his knee as he struggled to catch his breath. The idiot was tired. "If you want to give up, I'm totally cool with that! You know, uh… because I'm generous like that!"

…Was he serious? Kakashi couldn't tell.

"You can't continue, can you?" murmured Kakashi as his breath evened out. His brow furrowed with uncertainty.

"What?" snapped Obito as he stood up with indignation. "You want to go again? I can do this all day!"

There was no doubt anymore.

"You're an idiot Obito," sighed Kakashi as he finally relented and pocketed his kunai.

"You want to say that to my face again bastard? I could—Hey wait, you said my name!" said Obito, switching in mid-sentence and utterly distracted from his initial thought.

"Yes," confirmed Kakashi as his hid his relief behind brushing off the dust from their scuffle.

"About time!" said Obito cheerfully as his face broke out in a grin. "What changed your mind?"

"Only an idiot like you would bluff an enemy while exhausted and obviously defeated," droned Kakashi in a deadpan.

Though his words sounded blunt and uncaring, inwardly he felt joy tugging at his chest at the sight of his teammate alive and… almost well. From the number of bandages on his person, he didn't escape the death trap unscathed. It was a surprise he managed to get out at all.

The reunion with Obito continued with the appearance of Kushina, Minato and Rin. He felt a twinge of guilt when Rin came at them with the fury that only an iryo-nin could muster against unruly patients. Her unshed tears and heartfelt words was almost enough to make him want to apologize to her a hundred times over, but he didn't because of a stranger in their midst. The little girl, Kasa, stood there throughout the entire reunion.

Judging by her face structure and hair coloring, he suspected some sort of relation between her and Kushina, but as far as he knew, his sensei's girlfriend didn't have any remaining relatives to speak of. So who was this girl? The earlier stunt at the memorial stone was no doubt one of Obito's pranks, but there was something odd about her. The way she stared at him when he first took notice of her and the grimace across her face when the scuffled started, something just didn't seem right.

"Kasa-chan are you hungry?" asked Kushina near the end of their reunion.

"…I can wait," mumbled the girl quietly. "Until Kakashi admits he needs a hug, it might be dangerous to go eating with him… He might just try to hurt himself with the splinters on a chopstick."

When all eyes focused on him, Kakashi found himself glaring at the small girl. A glint of mirth shined in her eyes as she continued in a faked innocence.

"Whoops, you didn't want to know that?" she raised a hand to her mouth with wide eyes.

It was an act, he could tell it was an act, but that didn't help him in the least at his teammates plowed him into a hug that didn't relent until their sensei intervened. He could tell the girl was smart with the way she wisely sided with Kushina at every turn. Though Minato was their sensei and likely the most powerful of them in the group, she could tell that blond man was thoroughly whipped by Kushina.

The fact was even more pronounced the day after when he and his team reported to the council to debrief on the events of the mission and to deal with the Uchiha's demands of relinquishing Obito's eye. No one expected Obito to renounce his ties to the Uchiha. Neither he nor Rin was able to take his determination with the same ease he had. Yet, somehow the girl could.

"Does that mean I could have Obito as my big brother?" said the girl when no one else could speak after Obito's declaration that they were all closer family to him than his actual clan.

"Of course!" grinned Obito without hesitation. "If you don't mind having me as a brother."

"Yay!" cheered the girl, an act that shouldn't seem out of place for a girl her age, but what she said next seemed too convenient for it to be a coincidence. "Then when Kushina-san and Minato-san have a ba—"

Kakashi had never seen his sensei clamp a hand over someone's mouth as quickly as he had that day, but it happened. At the time he played along, teasing and toying with the embarrassment of his sensei and his sensei's girlfriend, but never once did he let his attention disappear from Kasa. The girl seemed too pleased at the flustered reactions of Minato and Kushina as if she knew it would happen.

"You did that on purpose didn't you?" asked Kakashi offhandedly while Rin and Obito continued to fluster the two jounins.

"Hmm?" hummed the girl with a curious expression on her face as she glanced up at him with a happy grin. "Did what on purpose?"

At first Kakashi thought maybe he was too critical and paranoid, but he found it impossible to ignore discrepancies in others, even if they're children. He himself had become a chunin at the mere age of six.

"Do I need to elaborate?" droned Kakashi with half-lidded eyes.

"Hehe," sniggered the girl as she waved her hand. "I'm just helping Obito a little bit."

Little did he know, the moment her hand accidentally brushed against his jounin vest, a spark of chakra appeared and all the seals to his storage scrolls activated. In a split second he found himself buried in his equipment.

"Kakashi!" shouted Rin in surprise as they all rushed to dig him out from the pile of camping gear, weapons and miscellaneous other tools and gear that he didn't bother unpacking since he returned to the village.

"…Whoops?" said the girl sheepishly as she scratched the side of her face.

While the girl was only four, she had a knack for activating seals. No doubt a trait of her Uzumaki heritage. She managed to weasel her way into their fold with ease much like Kushina and even into the hearts of the head Uchiha household. He couldn't brush off the possibility that she might be a plant, but she took after Obito's mannerisms so much that it was hard to stay suspicious for long.

…That was until Rin's kidnap and the release of the three-tailed beast on Konoha.

"Kasa! What the hell are you doing out here?" snapped Kakashi when he spotted her racing towards him in the midst of the demon attack on the village.

"Where's Obito?" asked the girl.

"Go back to the shelter! It's not safe here," ordered Kakashi when he noticed the stubborn gaze in her eyes.

"But I could help!" grounded out the girl.

"This isn't a game! Go back!" snapped Kakashi as he glared down at her. He had no time to deal with her. He had to find a way to save Rin. Obito had already saved her once in dragging her from running into hi chidori.

"I'm not playing! I can stop it!" snapped Kasa as she pointed to the three-tailed beast rampaging over Konoha. "That's Rin-san up there right? I can save her!"

"…How did you?" Kakashi stopped and stared at her.

"I just need to get close enough! I can stop it and save Rin-san! If you won't tell me where Obito is, then you have to get be close enough!" she declared.

"There is no way I'm—" Kakashi started to protest, but the girl would have none of it.

"We don't have time for this! The longer we take, the more of the village it destroys! Obito said you're a genius and prodigy! Well use that genius brain of yours! If we don't stop it now, they're going to kill Rin-san to stop this!" argued the girl.

His mind raced over words. It made no sense how she could've known that Rin was inside the three-tailed beast. There was no way she could stop this chaotic mess on her own. Yet, he could tell there were no lies, no fake bravado or childish desire for glory in her words. She genuinely thought she could stop this. He couldn't make sense of what he deduced from the girl, but at the same time he could tell the girl knew much more than any girl her age should know.

"How close do you need to go?" said Kakashi when he finally relented.

"Get me to the closest tail first. Then get ready to go to the next after I'm done," said the girl as she yanked down the collar of her shirt and pulled out the string of charms around her neck.

She pulled off five rings from the charms and slipped it onto her index finger. He faintly saw a seal etched into each one of the rings. Kakashi could hardly believe the girl was already adept enough in the sealing arts to even think that she could seal a three-tailed beast on her lonesome, but there were little else he or anyone else in the village could do. Minato and Kushina weren't in the village and there were hardly anyone else that was as skilled at the two of them.

"You better know what you're doing," said Kakashi as he picked up the girl and darted towards the monstrous body of the three-tailed beast.

"Can you get onto that tail?" She asked when they drew closer to the three-tailed beast and grimaced. "I don't have enough chakra to set it off at this range."

Kakashi found himself body-flickering to one point after another as he watched Kasa plant the seal rings into the beast's body. Much to his surprise, the seals did work and the beast's limb slowly came to a halt. He glanced to the girl and noticed her face turned a sickly shade of green.

"Next—" She covered my mouth, swallowing down the bile that rose up.

"You okay?" asked Kakashi and she forced herself to focus once more.

"Just keep going!" urged Kasa on before he flickered again, but before they could proceed any further, a furious Obito intercepted them.

"Kakashi!" roared the Uchiha as he stood between them and the next seal point he needed to get the girl to. "I'm not going to let you kill Rin!"

"Shit," hissed Kakashi, inwardly cursed at the other's timing. "Obito! You have to listen! We can—"

He never had the chance to finish as Obito caught him solidly over the jaw and he lost his grip on the auburn-haired girl.

"Obito!" screamed Kasa as plummeted towards the ground. Kakashi desperately tried to catch her arm, but he missed it by inches.

"Kasa?" The former Uchiha snapped out of his anger and horror crossed his face as he watched the younger girl fall to her death.

"Damn it Obito! She was going to save Rin!" shouted Kakashi as he darted down the side of the three-tail's body hoping he could get to her in time, but it was hard to find a perch on the beast's body that could allow his chakra to cling.

He cursed loudly as the girl continued to scream in her descent. There were still so many discrepancies about her he couldn't make sense of. He couldn't let her die! Just as he pushed himself to go faster, an unexpected visitor showed up.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" shouted a familiar voice.

A voice Kakashi recognized as his sensei's sensei, one of the legendary sanins, Jiraiya. He watched as a giant frog appeared and snatched Kasa from the air. It wouldn't have been a pretty sight had she hit the ground. The street would've been stained by a pile of blood and gore. From the distance, he couldn't make out what was said between the sanin and Kasa, but he could tell the girl somehow convinced the man to continue where he left off and helped her to complete the sealing on the beast.

He hadn't known what to expect with the sealing from the auburn-haired girl, but when it was completed, the beast disappeared and Rin came falling from the sky. Fortunately, Jiraiya managed to catch her and brought her safely back to the ground with Kasa in tow. Kakashi made haste to check up on them, but when he reached them, Jiraiya was already in the process of drawing seals on both Rin and Kasa.

"Hey, Minato's brat," said Jiraiya as he spared a brief glance at him. "I'm going to be working with some volatile seals. Make sure no one interrupts until I'm done."

Kakashi needn't ask what the man was doing. The sporadic red chakra fluctuating around Rin's body showed obvious signs that the demonic beast within her still needed to be restrained. Whatever Kasa managed to do was temporary at best. He watched as Jiraiya's brush sped over their skin and clothes before running through a set of hand seals and slammed his palms into Rin and Kasa's stomachs.

Rin let out a blood curling scream as the chakra flailed violently. Her body thrashed and struggled to wrench away from Jiraiya's hand, but the man kept her held firmly in place as the chakra ripped from her body and latched onto Kasa's unmoving form. With morbid fascination, the silver-haired jounin watched as the chakra took on a life of its own and clawed its way into the smaller girl's body. Unlike Rin, she hadn't made a sound, but then again, she wasn't breathing either.

"Rin! Kasa!" shouted Obito as he darted towards them, but Kakashi caught him and hauled him back before he could interrupt. "Kakashi!"

"Jiraiya-sama is trying to save them, shut up and stay put," snapped the silver-haired jounin.

It seemed that the former Uchiha was about to fight him on the matter, but with great reluctance he relented and slumped his shoulder dejectedly. Obito was always the reckless one to charge headfirst and ask questions later. The girl he saved seemed to share his recklessness; however, unlike Obito, she seemed to know the answers before the question was even asked.

"Kakashi, what do you know of this girl?" asked Jiraiya on the rooftop of the hospital after the girl was stabilized and relocated.

"War refugee, Uzumaki descent, Obito found her during our mission to destroy the Kannabi bridge," replied Kakashi as he stared out to the smoking aftermath of the demon attack. "She's staying with Kushina-san and Minato sensei."

"Anything else to make note of?" continued Jiraiya in his line of questioning.

"She's…" Kakashi frowned. "Suspicious."

"How so?" asked Jiraiya with a matching frown.

"She has an affinity with seals, but appears unable to create seals of her own," continued Kakashi with furrowed brows. "Personality wise, she emulates Kushina-san and Obito, but I could sense that she's hiding something. I suspected she's a possible a plant, but…"

"Her actions doesn't match up," concluded Jiraiya.

"She knew Rin was in the three-tailed beast. She knew how to stop her. If she meant Konoha harm, she wouldn't try to hinder the beast's destruction to the village," reasoned Kakashi. "If she's trying to gain trust, it doesn't make sense for her to needlessly throw her life away to stop this. The only reason she's still alive is because of your intervention."  
"Maybe she knew I was there," suggested Jiraiya.

"Even if she knew, how could she be certain that you would save her?" Kakashi's frown deepened. "It doesn't make sense that a plant would make such a risky gamble. There are more reasonable alternatives."

"Out of curiosity, did Minato or Kushina mentioned of me while around this girl?" asked Jiraiya.

"Not that I know of," said Kakashi as he glanced to the sanin. "Why?"

"Interesting, very interesting," drawled Jiraiya as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Jiraiya-sama?" question Kakashi.

"I think I'm going to have a little chat with our little enigma," answered Jiraiya as he turned his heel and made his way towards the door. "If my hunch is right, it might do us some good to listen to the little girl whenever she decides to talk."

How cryptic.

It was days before the girl woke up and in that time Minato and Kushina returned from their mission to find village in the midst of repairs and their charge in the hospital. Obito had spent those days standing guard by her, guilt ridden over his face as they all waited for her to wait up. In that time, her heart stopped and failed several times as it was unfamiliar and adjusting to the demonic chakra.

Jiraiya mentioned that she no longer had any chakra of her own and relied on the sealed demonic chakra to survive. In essence, she was more demon than human, but mattered little. Everyone else still saw her as the same child as she was before.

"Obito, take a break, you need to eat and rest," said Rin quietly.

"I nearly killed her," whispered Obito as he shook his head. "She just wanted to help."

"It's not your fault," said Minato as he planted a hand on his mess spikes.

"I'm going to wait until she wakes up," mumbled the former Uchiha as he sat sulkily next to the unconscious girl's bedside.

Kakashi couldn't understand the closeness the two shared. They seemed almost as close as blood-born siblings. Despite that neither of them known each other for that long.

"Come on idiot," said Kakashi as he grabbed the former Uchiha by the back of his shirt and hauled him out the door of the auburn-haired girl's room.

"Kakashi? Hey!" protested Obito as he stumbled to catch his footing.

"We're getting food and you're going to bed," said Kakashi as he dragged him down the halls and out the hospital.

"I don't want—"

"You won't be any help to anyone if you keep this up," retorted Kakashi. "If you want to help her, take care of yourself first idiot."

Obito looked as though he wanted to argue, but grew silent as he allowed Kakashi to drag away. A change that Kakashi never expected to see from his teammate, but he wasn't about to complain. He wasn't sure if the changes caused by the girl's presence was good or bad, but he would have to wait and see.

* * *

The next time he interacted with her directly was after her discharge from the hospital. Kushina and the rest of Team Minato were busy with the party preparation for her recovery and he was allocated with the responsibility of getting her back to the apartment. A task that sounded easy, but turned out to be more trouble than it should be.

"FREEDOM AT LAST!" cackled the girl as they made their way out of the hospital. "NEVER AGAIN WILL I BE CONFINED!"

"Kasa-chan," said Kakashi in a deadpan as he snatched the girl before she could run off. "You're disrupting the peace."

"But it's so nice out, Kakashi-san!" giggled the girl in glee before a sly look cross her face. "Do you want to go to the park with me? It can be a date! Then we could go to the movies and—"

He dropped her, repulsed by the suggestions. Dates and romance were not things he wanted to hear from a child.

"Sucker!" cackled the girl as she darted off without a care. With how she used discomfort as a tool, she would likely make a decent kunoichi in using underhanded tactics.

"Kasa-chan," sighed Kakashi with irritation before he spotted another child coming up in her path. "Stop running! You're going to crash into someone!"

"I'm not going to—Oomph!" She crashed.

"Kasa! I told you not to run," snapped Kakashi in exasperation as he hauled her off the other child. "Are you okay?"

"Ow…" whined the girl as she rubbed her head and glanced down at the child underneath her. Panic crossed her face as she broke away from Kakashi and helped the other up. "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah…" murmured the other boy quietly as he got up and clapped his clothes clean. His eyes squinted as he looked around. "My glasses."

"Ack!" the girl ran off to retrieve the glasses before returning to him, utterly flustered and frantic. "Here! They doesn't look broken, it should be fine right? If not I'll asked Kushina-san to buy you a new one! I'm so sorry!"

Any other person might've found the exchange cute, but Kakashi watched with caution. Even if she felt guilty for running the boy over, there was no need for such panic. The boy had a quiet demeanor, ash-grey hair and clothes that looked to be a hand-me-down, quite possibly an orphan from the orphanage in the area.

"No, it's okay. They're not broken," said the boy as he slipped them back on and glanced at her with confusion. "Is something wrong?"

"Do I know you?" asked the girl with a puzzled expression.

"I-I don't know," replied the boy with an equally puzzled look.

"You look familiar though… What's your name?" asked the girl before she introduced herself. "I'm Kasa."

"I'm…" the boy started, but never finished.

"Kabuto!" shouted a woman, likely the orphanage matron as she rushed over, but Kakashi wasn't paying attention to a word she said.

Instead he watched as the confused expression on Kasa's face turned into widened eyes of realization. She recognized the boy somehow. He drifted his eye back to the boy speculatively, another possible plant maybe? The boy, Kabuto didn't seem to share same reaction as he looked to her as if she was a stranger.

"Why are you so dirty?" asked the woman as she fussed over the boy.

"Sorry," Kakashi interrupted as he planted a hand over Kasa's head and pushed it down to a bow. "That would be her fault, she was running around without looking."

"Hey!" complained the girl as her arms wind-milled and she tried to break away from his hand. "I can say sorry myself!"

"It's fine," mumbled the boy as he glanced to her, confusion still prominent on his face. "She said sorry already."

The matron chided Kasa briefly before she dragged the boy off. Kasa shared one last look with him before he parted. From the looks on their faces, it didn't seem like they were coconspirators of any sort, but Kakashi couldn't decide what this exchange was either.

In the months that followed, nothing seemed out of place. Kasa hadn't made any attempts to see the Kabuto boy beyond that first meeting and the rest of the time she trained alongside Rin with Kushina to gain some semblance of control over the new chakra in her system.

While the girl's class rankings in the Academy prior to her hospitalization didn't show any promise of a great prodigy, she had advanced steadily and showed potential for a future shinobi candidate. However, after her hospitalization and the change of chakra not her own, she began to struggle. Expected as she no longer had her original chakra and used volatile demonic chakra instead.

Rin was village-bound since then, her status as the new jinchuriki of the three-tailed demon made it risky to put her on missions unless they want the enemy to snatch her away and steal what's left of the demon that was still inside her. Fortunately, her iryo-nin status made it easy to reassign her to the hospital and allowed her to stay in her field without much repercussion, but the same couldn't be said for Kasa who shared the other half of the three-tailed beast.

"Kakashi, we need help in finding Kasa," said Minato one afternoon after Kakashi had washed off the remains of what prank Obito managed to land on him. While his teammate was questionably lacking in some areas, he would have to applaud him when it came to traps and pranks.

"Find her?" frowned Kakashi. "What happened?"

"The council wants her out of the village," said Minato.

"What?" said Kakashi in surprise, not expecting such a drastic action by the council to deal with an Academy student even if she was a jinchuriki. "Isn't that a bit extreme?"

"It's only until she could get a grasp over the demonic chakra," explained Minato. "Her father came to pick her up, but… well, you can say she didn't take the news well."

"She's missing now?" asked Kakashi.

"Obito said she went to see Hana and Itachi, but neither of them saw her today," explained Minato.

"You think she's hiding to avoid leaving the village?" asked Kakashi.

"Quite possibly," nodded Minato. "It'd be great if you can help out."

"Afraid she'll do something stupid?" asked Kakashi dryly and the blond man laughed.

"Hopefully not," said Minato with a faint grin, but the light didn't reach his eyes. Kakashi couldn't fault him, the man probably disagreed with the temporary exile.

"Sure, I'll help," agreed Kakashi.

"Thanks!" said Minato with a genuine smile this time before he continued his search with Kakashi in tow.

When they found her, Kasa was encapsulated in a cloak of demonic chakra, thrashing and screaming on the forest grounds. Kushina tried to calm her, but to no avail the girl clenched at her head as she desperately tried to get a hold of herself.

"Minato!" shouted Kushina as she tried to chain the girl down with her chakra chains.

"Kasa-chan! You have to calm down!" shouted Minato, but to no avail it didn't seem like the girl could hear him as she continued to scream and thrash.

"Stop fighting us! Kasa!" shouted Kushina as the girl snarled. "Can you hear me? Kasa?"

Kasa screamed, her voice hoarse and destroyed by the violent volume she projected it.

"It's no use, she can't hear us," grimaced Minato before he charged into the fray and grabbed the girl.

"Minato sensei!" shouted Kakashi as he noticed the fingertips of the man's hand gave off an eerie glow.

"I'm sorry Kasa," murmured the man before he dug his fingers into the girl's stomach. "Five Elements Seal!"

Kakashi watched as her screams died down and cloak of demonic chakra faded from the girl's body before she fell unconscious. He could tell both his sensei and Kushina wanted to deal as little damage to the Kasa as possible, but given the circumstances, they didn't have much choice. Kasa's father was no different. The man grimaced at the sight of his daughter as they returned her to him.

Though Kasa shared a number of resemblances to Kushina, he noted that she shared more with her father. The shape of their eyes, the thinning of their lips at discomfort and the similar timbre of their voices. Tesuri was a soft spoken man and while Kasa share none of her father's calmness, her voice shared the same softness. Particularly when she's at a lost.

"What are you doing here?" asked the girl hoarsely through her damaged throat, baffled at the sight of the group that waited for her at the gates to send her off.

Kakashi watched as the Inuzuka girl and the Uchiha boys chattered away and wished her a fast recovery. Kushina and Minato must've came up with some health problems as an excuse for Kasa's departure.

"I can come back?" choked the girl broken and hopeful as she glanced to Minato and Kushina for confirmation.

"As soon as you get better," agreed Kushina. "We'll be waiting for you."

"But don't take too long," interrupted Obito. "We still have a ton of pranks to pull and I totally have to show you the pictures of the prank you missed yesterday."

"You had pictures?" growled Kakashi as he punched his teammate over the head. Though, that bit was for show as he watched the girl tear up with each reassurance followed by Rin and Minato.

"I-I'm not crying!" grinned the girl as she rubbed away the tears. "I just have something in my eyes."

Kakashi fought back a snort as Obito grinned at her poor excuse. She even emulated the former Uchiha's lies. However, he couldn't fault her since those were obviously tears of joy. People generally don't cry when they're happy, right?

"I'll be back in less than two years!" shouted the girl as she departed.

Kakashi hadn't thought much of the promise at the time as it seemed like the girl was just too happy to think otherwise. However, true to her word, she came back four months before the two years was up. During the Kyubi's attack… When he saw again, it was in the barrier placed by the older generation to protect the younger shinobi. Kasa, along with Rin and Obito were tossed in by Kurenai's father, Kurei.

"Kasa? When did you get back?" asked Kakashi as he caught her before she hit the ground.

"Let us out!" shouted Kasa as she ran towards the jounin, but bounced back on the invisible barrier and moved forward to pound her little fists against it. "We need to help Minato-san and Kushina-san!"

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. How did she even know that Kushina and Minato sensei were in trouble? Didn't she just get back?

"This is not war, but an internal village conflict. The life of a shinobi is short and this is not where you and your peers will die. You are all the future of Konoha, you must survive to bring about the next generation and continue the will of fire," lectured Kurei as he stared them all down.

"I don't care about your will of fire!" snapped the girl as she pounded at the barrier again. "I want to save Kushina-san and Minato-san! Let—me—out!"

Kurei glared at her blatant disobedience and walked off after ordering a nearby chunin to make sure to stand guard and prevent any escapes.

"Please let me out! If Minato-san faces the Kyubi, he and Kushina-san are going to die! Please! Please let me out so I can help them!" She begged desperately, but none of the guards paid her any heed. "Please! Let me make something right for a change!"

Kakashi frowned as he went to untie Rin and Obito. There it was again. Her claims that she could help. Her pounding hands slowed against the barrier when Kyubi's angry snarls finally disappeared. She dropped knees in tears, face pressed against the barrier as she forced back the sobs. He thought back to the conversation he had on that day with Jiraiya. The man said that if ever Kasa decided to talk that he should take notice and listen. Could it be? This girl was actually… an oracle?

He reached back into his pouch and pulled out the special kunai Minato sensei gifted to him during his promotion. The Hiraishin seal with still clear and prominent on the hilt of the blade. If his theory was right, Kasa might be implying that tonight could quite possibly be the death of his sensei and Kushina. Should he believe and risk an insubordination black mark on his record? Or hope that her words were nothing more than delusional nonsense?

The girl's small form shook with silent sobs as her hands curled up against the barrier. Kakashi gripped the hilt of the kunai and made his way towards her.

"Even after nearly two years, you're still the same brat as always," sighed Kakashi as he stood behind her.

"Shut up Kakashi!" she tried to rub away the tears with her arms, but failed miserably as she choked back another sob.

"Looks like Obito rubbed off on you more than I thought," said Kakashi.

"Hey!" retorted Obito with indignation.

The girl said nothing and ignored him. No doubt drowning herself in thoughts of despair.

"You can still active any seal you touch right?" asked Kakashi, forcibly cutting through whatever thoughts she might have.

"Yeah…why?" sniffled the girl, confused at the question.

"Do you still want to go save sensei and Kushina-san?" drawled Kakashi as he held up the kunai with one finger in the ring. Her head snapped around and her jaw dropped open at the sight of the kunai, she knew what it was despite that Minato sensei had never used it once in her presence.

"But… I don't have enough chakra to use that," said the girl dejectedly.

Kakashi raised a brow. That was what she worried over?

"You're forgetting who our sensei is. Rin, Obito and I, we're all trained to be able to activate this together. We just can't choose which kunai we end up. Sensei planted plenty of his special kunais throughout Konoha."

She stared at him with her mouth gapping in surprise.

"If you can redirect us to the right kunai that would be a lot of help. I much rather we get this in one go rather than waste chakra with multiple attempts. We  _are_  going to need it to save him and Kushina-san, are we not?" drawled Kakashi.

The girl laughed as she hastily wiped away her tears and got up to take the kunai from his hand.

"Are you all crazy?" shouted Ebisu. "This is going against all orders!"

"You're going to get a civilian kill," said Asuma. "Not going to look good on your record."

"That's very unlike you my hip rival!" said the bowl-haired youth, most likely Gai. "To so blatantly ignore the rules."

"Yes, it's very unlike you," agreed Kurenai.

Kakashi sighed, he should've expected the outburst from his peers. This was rather out of character for him to do so. Such reckless actions were usually Obito's forte.

"Well, we all know the saying, those who break the rules are trash. However," he glanced over to Obito. "I've learned that those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

Both Obito and Rin grinned brightly his words.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," said Obito with his arms resting behind his head as he moved next to the girl.

"We better hurry then," said Rin in agreement as she also moved into position.

"Hn." A faint grin tugged at his lips as he glanced over to the auburn-haired girl and closed off the final spot in the ring he and his teammates made around the girl. "Shall we?"

"Yeah!" agreed the girl with a cheer. "Let's go save Minato-san and Kushina-san."

He watched in fascination as the girl clasped her hands over the kunai and closed her eyes in concentration. Obito and Rin grasped onto his hands as they gathered up the necessary chakra for Hiraishin to drag them off to the corresponding kunai in Minato's possession.

"Found you!" whispered Kasa before they found the familiar tug of the seal and reappeared in a barren wasteland.

Kushina was on the ground breathing heavily as she struggled to keep Kyubi under control in her chains. Rin wasted no time in rushing to assist her. Minato was already in the midst of performing a jutsu when Kakashi and Obito revealed their sharingans and jumped into the fray.

"Minato-san stop!" screamed Kasa, but her words came too late as a deathly apparition appeared behind him.

"What is that?" whispered Obito faintly by Kakashi's side as he took notice of the apparition.

"Reaper Death Seal!" shouted Minato before the ghostly figure thrust a violent hand into his back and through his stomach to grab hold of the Kyubi.

"That's…" whispered Kakashi in horror and realization as he ran towards the man. "Sensei!"

The Kyubi roared in pain and fury as it grew smaller and half of its chakra dragged into his sensei's stomach. Just as Minato fell, Kakashi caught him, barely before he hit the ground.

"Kakashi, Obito, Rin… Kasa?" whispered Minato with weary eyes as he righted himself. "How are you all here?"

"Never mind that! Why would you use that?" snapped Kakashi angrily. "You do know what happens when…" He couldn't even finish his words.

Minato chuckled lightly as he patted Kakashi's head. "If you know then let's not waste the little time I have left. Actually, I'm a little glad you're all here… Maybe with you here, I won't have to seal Kushina into Naruto along with the Kyubi."

"Seal…" started Obito he stared in disbelief at the altar and small bed Minato summoned. "You were going to seal Kyubi and Kushina-san into your son? Are you out of your mind? She's your wife and he's your son! Why would you do such a thing?"

"Sorry," apologized Minato as he laughed weakly as he gave them all a faint smile. "I really don't have time to explain…"

"Sensei," called out Rin worriedly as she kept Kushina upright, but she was having trouble.

"Minato," wheezed Kushina as she coughed and kneeled over, her chains on the Kyubi loosened and all hell broke loose.

"Kushina!" shouted Minato as he forced himself out of Kakashi's arms, desperate to stop the Kyubi before it could break loose.

"NEVER AGAIN WILL YOU MORTALS SEAL ME!" Kyubi roared as it fought against its chains and swung its claws towards the small bundle on the seal altar not too far from them.

"Minato!" screamed Kushina.

"Sensei!" shouted Kakashi.

At the corner of his eyes, he spotted Kasa move. Her hand grasped onto the dying chains around Kushina and pulsed of chakra through them. The chains thickened and tightened around Kyubi.

"WHAT!?" roared Kyubi in fury as his body fell against the chains' hold.

"Kyubi stopped," whispered Rin in awe as she stared at Kasa.

Kakashi found himself speechless as the little girl heaved and grasped tightly to the chains. Her eyes glazed over with effort as she focused solely on holding on. He watched as Minato brushed a loose strand of Kushina's red hair back and pressed his forehead against her. Kushina whimpered as tears poured from her eyes at his gentle words.

"Kakashi, Obito," started Minato as he fell into Kakashi's arms again. "From here on out, your orders are to protect Naruto and Kushina to the best of your abilities. I won't be here once the sealing is done. I'm entrusting my family to the two of you. Do you think you can do this?"

"Yes sir," replied the two of them, their voices caught in their throats as they choked.

Surprisingly, Obito wasn't the one in tear for once. This time, Kakashi found himself being the one that fought back the tears that poured from his eyes. Even as Minato turned his attention to Rin and Kasa, he found himself unable to stem the streaming tears.

"You're totally cheating Minato-san!" huffed Kasa as she pressed a palm against her eye to stop herself from crying. "You were supposed to be around after giving me a little brother! How are we supposed to con you for candy and training lessons?"

"Sorry Kasa. I really wished I could stay long enough for you return party." Minato gave a weak laugh before grunting at the reaper's impatience. "My time is ending soon. I have to finish this…"

Minato wiped away a stray drop of blood from his lip and hastily summoned a small toad. It took a moment for the toad realized the situation before it quickly unfurled the scroll on his stomach. Minato wasted no time in imprinting the seal onto the surface before the toad rolled up the scroll and giving the toad one last order to deliver it to Jiraiya.

"… It was nice knowing you Minato," said the frog grimly before he disappeared in a puff.

The blond hokage gave a weak sigh as he took unstable steps towards his crying son. Kakashi and Obito moved to help him, but he raised a hand to stop them before moving to kneel down over the wailing child on sealing altar. A sadden gaze crossed his face as he lingered a hand over his crying son.

"Be strong Naruto," whispered the man before he planted his hand over the baby's stomach. "Eight Trigrams Seal!"

Kyubi roared in fury in its last moments as it was drawn into the baby's stomach, locked away by the seal. Once done, Minato dropped to his hands to the ground breathing heavily. The instant Kyubi disappeared the chains around him did too it had been reabsorbed by Kushina.

"One last thing," breathed Minato with a humorous chuckle as Kakashi helped him roll into a sitting position. "Don't let Jiraiya sensei corrupt my son too much okay?"

"Minato," cried Kushina as she reached out for his hand and Minato caught hers in his gently.

"Love you, take care of Naruto…" said Minato before his eyes drifted close and the reaper sliced away his soul.

"MINATO!" screamed Kushina in anguish, as his hand grew limp in hers.

"…Sensei…" whispered Kakashi as he grieved alongside Kushina and his teammates. He almost forgotten the presence of Kasa if she hadn't spoke up over the baby's crying.

"Kushina-san… I think he wants you," murmured Kasa quietly as she carried over Minato's son.

The distraught woman cried as she reached for her baby and held him close to her chest, tears poured from her face. Rin asked after the girl if she was okay and they traded some words. She looked tired, more tired than any of them.

"…Too bad I couldn't save Minato-san as well. I really wanted to. I should've been faster," murmured Kasa sadly with an uneven sway from where she stood.

"Kasa-chan?" called out Rin with worry before the girl's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she dropped motionless to the ground. "Kasa-chan!"

After that night, he had no doubt that the girl was an oracle. She always seem to appear just as the worst happens. When he thought Obito was dead, she brought him back. When he thought there was no saving Rin, she brought her back. Now, she just tried to save Minato and Kushina but managed only to save one of the two.

She was no plant, he concluded. She was… what should he call her? A gift? An omen? After all that's happened, he wasn't sure what to make of her. The girl suffered a minor bout of chakra exhaustion, though he doubted that would be the case as she carried a substantial amount of demonic chakra in her. The more likely explanation was that her body was incapable of channeling large amounts of said chakra.

Three days after the Kyubi fiasco, Kakashi found himself summoned before the hokage and the council along with all those present at his sensei's death. Debate opened on whether or not it was safe to keep her in the village any longer and whether her father was trustworthy enough to remain a Konoha shinobi.

"We only have your word and yours alone. How can we confirm anything you say if you've betrayed your previous village?" snapped Danzo. "Your words mean nothing!"

"I denounced my village the moment they turned on me and my family!" retorted Tesuri, fuming at the accusations. "I sworn loyalty to Konoha because its shinobi was gracious enough to keep my daughter safe when I was not able to, but if this is how we will be treated I—"

"That is enough!" interrupted Hiruzen with a booming voice. "Both of you settle down, this meeting is not meant for laying blame on anyone. It is for the clarification of what happened on the day the Kyubi attacked. If neither of you can keep a civil tongue, I suggest you both stay silent!"

The volley of words grew in volume and the arguments deepened. It wasn't until Kushina stood her ground that any semblance of order returned to the room.

"When Minato was about to seal the Kyubi, it was ready to lash out to kill Naruto before he managed to seal him away," stated Kushina. "Kasa here did something unexpected. She managed to grab onto my chakra chains."

"And?" drawled Danzo, unimpressed.

Kushina smirked. "Those chains had enough chakra to burn any new graduate genin and even some chunin. Not only did she manage to touch them without getting harmed, she reinforced it. Enough to chain down the Kyubi."

The pipe dropped out from the hokage's mouth as he turned his attention to the girl. Kakashi watched as she gave a flustered answer before it was refuted by Danzo. Several more exchanges happened before the girl finally snapped and stirred up the room into another flurry of arguments. Even so, he noticed a confused expression cross the girl's face as she grew silent and lost in though. However, that didn't last long as realization lit up on her face and she revealed a bit of information that surprised the whole room.

"There's no way she's a jinchuriki. Danzo must've crossed us," murmured the girl at first before her eyes widened. "There's no way she's a jinchuriki! Danzo must've crossed us! That's what they said when they woke me up!"

"What nonsense are you spouting?" said Danzo evenly.

"When they woke me up after kidnapping me that was what they said! There's no way she's a jinchuriki. Danzo must've crossed us! They kept asking me if I was a jinchuriki sealed with Sanbi's chakra. They said Danzo promised them a jinchuriki!" She shouted, determined to cut the man off.

"Be careful what you say child. Slander is—"

"The man Hanzo said he was going to attack Konoha after he dealt with the rebels in Ame because the village was already weakened by Sanbi's attack! He said Danzo was going to help them!" She pointed to Danzo. "It must be him!"

"This child is speaking nonsense, as if I would ever betray Konoha," waved off Danzo.

Hanzo? Kakashi frowned as he studied the bandaged elder before him. The name was definitely the name of the leader of Ame and from what he remembered in their history texts, the man was not one to be trifled with. The fact Kasa encountered him and lived to tell the tale, spoke volumes.

"He had a weird mask and this giant scythe thing and he was super scary! He started talking about eliminating things and, and!" Her words became incoherent.

Kakashi found it near impossible to follow anything she was saying, but if what she said was true, Danzo was more of a threat than he thought.

"Pardon me for interrupting," said Kakashi. "I would like to input my thoughts on the matter."

"You have no place—" started Danzo, but Hiruzen raised a hand to stop his protest.

"In my observation of Kasa Mon since her arrival here nearly three years ago, I've seen her done many things benefiting the village more so than most shinobi in Konoha," continued Kakashi as he kept an eye on Danzo. "Before arriving at the village, she along with her father has already saved one of our shinobi, Obito formerly of the Uchiha Clan and she had earned the trust of Kushina-san, Yondaime-sama's wife and trusted companion before she even enter the gates of Konoha."

The bandaged man frowned as his words.

"And during the course of her stay, she have also earned the trust of Yondaime Hokage-sama, the man who recently sacrificed himself for the safety of the village. In addition, she has also assisted in stopping both Sanbi and Kyubi in the past and recently several days ago," stated Kakashi.

This was a game of politics and he knew very well that it was unlikely for the man to press on if there were enough evidence to defend whatever he's against.

"Regarding to that," continued Kakashi, quite obvious of Obito's glee as he listened to him talk, his teammate had no poker face. "She also freed Rin from the control of Sanbi when she was turned into a jinchuriki against her will and used to decimate the village from within. While there are no physical record of her past deeds, I do believe that Kasa Mon have done a great deal in protecting and benefitting Konoha."

Kushina, Rin and Obito then went on with their own points to defend the girl and Kakashi found himself melding into the background once more as words traded once more between the bandaged elder and the remainder of the room. Eventually the argument moved onto questioning the loyalty of Kasa's father before it rounded back to questioning the accusations of Danzo's involvement with Hanzo and then lastly back to Kasa once more as her ability to handle demonic chakra came into question once more.

Sometimes, Kakashi really hated how politics worked.

"If I may be prompt," interrupted Danzo. "Even if we are to go with every plan that is noted here today, I must voice my concern about the current jinchuriki child that have yet become a Konoha shinobi."

Obito growled, ready to lash out at him, but Kakashi raised a hand to block him, keeping him from voicing out his complaints.

"If she is to be trained to restrain a jinchuriki such as Kyubi, I do believe she needs more specialized training than what the Academy offers. With her gone for nearly two years, no doubt, she's behind on the Academy curriculum," noted Danzo. "I suggest the jinchuriki should get a personal mentor rather than a jounin sensei and genin team. Those would be too much of a distraction for her."

Kasa's eyes widened as if she realized something and clung onto Rin's hand tightly with desperation and fear in her eyes. Kakashi's brows furrowed. Did Rin know of Kasa's oracle abilities?

"I don't think it's wise to separate Kasa-chan from the potential teammates she might work with in the future," interrupting Rin. "True, she would probably learn much faster with a mentor rather than a normal jounin sensei, but at the same time, I do believe she needs the experience with working with others. As Danzo-dono noted, Kasa-chan have been gone from the village for quite some time and she needs to return to the Academy in order to reconnect with those that may become her comrades."

She did, Kakashi concluded at seeing the relieved smile on Kasa's face.

"You cannot deny that she is behind," countered Danzo. "If we waste time with putting her through the Academy, she might end up wasting her time for years rather than spending it more productively."

"They're all sound suggestions," noted the Third as he spoke up, stopping any argument from starting up again. "How about we place a time limit?"

"Time limit?" repeated the girl with a frown.

"If Kasa can graduate within the next year, she will join a genin team with a jounin instructor," said the hokage impartially. "If she cannot graduate within the next year, a mentor will be selected and Kasa will take on an apprenticeship instead. Does that sound fair?"

"A full year?" sneered Danzo. "That'll be time wasted if she can't catch up! Three months, that's when the next genin exam is being held."

This wasn't good. Kakashi eyed Danzo with caution. Kasa had revealed that he had dealings with Hanzo that was not within the village's interest. Now he's trying to gain control of her with whatever means possible.

"You can't expect her to graduate that quickly!" snapped Obito. "She's been gone for so long! It's not fair to give her that little time!"

"I agree, time is unreasonable for someone that has no prodigal inclination," inserted Kakashi, determined to keep Danzo from getting his way. "She should be given multiple attempts at taking the exam rather than just time."

"Enough," boomed out the hokage when it seemed like another argument was about to start. "Kasa may have up to three tries in the genin exams with the next year. If after three times or she passes the one year time limit, she will get a mentor instead. The matter of mentorship will be dealt with in a year's time if she fails to graduate."

Danzo was pleased at the hokage's determination, but there was little else he could say. Unfortunately, there were plenty that he could still do. In the year that Kasa remained in the Academy, cramming and doing what she could to graduate in time, she had a quiet stalker secretly sabotaging her efforts. No one would've been the wiser if Kakashi hadn't decided to keep an eye out on the auburn-haired oracle.

"What do you think you're doing?" demanded Kakashi coldly before the young boy hiding in the trees flinched and his arm grew into a thick branch.

His eye widened for a moment as he dodge the attack and retaliated with a barrage of kunais. The branch-like arm raised to block the assault. Surprised at the sight of the supposed lost style, he nearly didn't react in time to the younger boy's attempt to flee. Kakashi charged up his chidori without a thought and ripped through the branch and pinned the boy to the ground by the neck with his forearm.

"Who are you?" repeated Kakashi with a frown.

The boy couldn't have been that much older than Kasa. Dressed in a standard anbu gear and happuri, his brown hair was near shoulder length and his eyes were dark and wide with fear. However, he never recalled seeing a boy that age in anbu. Kakashi made the rank of captain just the year before in anbu and he met with nearly all if not all of the anbu operatives. Whoever this boy was, he wasn't a part of the anbu squadrons he knew.

"K-Kinoe," gagged the boy as he replied.

"What are you doing following Kasa?" demanded Kakashi as the boy reached for his arm, but the chirping noise of the chidori halted any further movement.

The boy froze, his jaw stiff and neck tense. He looked almost in pain as if something was stopping him from talking. Suspicion crossed Kakashi's mind as his thoughts drifted back to Danzo once more. If the man could have dealings with Hanzo, there was a high chance that the man might have a force that was outside of the hokage's control. He wouldn't put it pass the man to put those same operatives under some sort of seal to keep his secrets from being spilled. The sick bastard.

"Don't let me see you near her again," threatened Kakashi as he released the younger boy.

Surprise and confusion crossed the boy's face briefly before he scrambled to his feet and fled. He didn't like the thought that Danzo with his own private army and brought the matter to the hokage, but to his disgust, the man already knew about Danzo's little private army.

"You do not have to concern yourself with the matters of Danzo," noted the man. "I will handle him."

"But Hokage-sama!" protested Kakashi. "He's actively triyng to sabotage Kasa's efforts!"

"If you are so concerned," sighed Hiruzen as he pulled out a blank mission scroll. "I could assign you as a temporary guard for her until the year is over."

"… Yes sir," grounded out Kakashi with reluctance.

He mentally scoffed at the reassignment. Rather than wasting village resources to deal with Danzo, he could've just took the man out of control. Even so, he was no stranger to guard duty. Prior to Minato's death he guarded Kushina for the duration of her pregnancy. Now, he was guarding the younger Uzumaki girl. Even if she wasn't going by the Uzumaki name, she was still of Uzumaki blood.

The next time he saw the wood-style boy again, it was during the second genin exam available that year. Kasa had opted out in taking that exam since her collapse due to stress in the first. She wandered into the Nara forest when he caught sight of the boy, but this time. Curiosity crossed Kakashi when he realized the boy wasn't stalking after Kasa. Rather, he was stalking him.

"I thought I told you I don't want to see you again," said Kakashi.

"You said you don't want to see me near  _her_  again," corrected the boy named Kinoe.

"Why are you here?" asked Kakashi.

"…Why did you not kill me?" asked Kinoe quietly.

The silver-haired anbu raised a brow at the question, not expecting the sudden inquiry.

"I'm a threat, aren't I?" asked the boy with uncertainty. "Threats are supposed to be eliminated right?"

That was…unexpected.

"…Was that why you were after Kasa?" asked Kakashi. "Someone told you that she was a threat?"

"I'm a threat to her," continued the boy, his voice filled with confusion. "Why didn't you kill me?"

A grimace crossed Kakashi's face as he stared at the boy before him. Was he like that before Obito nearly died? At the lost expression on the boy's face, he decided no. Minato sensei had never allowed him to go that far. Danzo was more of a monster than he originally thought.

"Contrary to what Danzo thinks, shinobi aren't just tools, they're human too," answered Kakashi. "Just because he's terrified enough to order the death of a little girl, doesn't mean others would share his view. Konoha shinobi shouldn't be killing their own."  
The boy grew quiet as if digesting what he said and without a word he disappeared. The rest of Kasa's Academy days continued on without much interference soon after. The girl failed one more time before she finally passed on the last exam of the year. Once she safely passed the hidden genin exams, he was reassigned once more to his regular anbu assignments with Obito. The former Uchiha had a habit of checking up on the girl whenever they returned from a mission, so it was rather convenient for him to check on the girl every now and then.

"Kasa! Grab it!" shouted the girl's Yamanaka teammate. "I lost my grip on her!"

"Damn it!" Kasa scrambled after the cat, but Obito easily snatched Tora up before she could get away.

"I didn't know you were scared of cats," snickered Obito before a happy smile lit up on the girl's face.

"Obito!" shouted the girl happily, but refrained from tackling him with a hug. She seemed highly wary of the cat in his hold.

"How's it going?" asked the former Uchiha as he lifted the flailing cat by the scruff of her neck. "Hello Tora, nice to see you're still bringing terror to all geinin."

The cat snarled swiping a paw at his face, but he easily pulled her away before she could.

"You're interrupting her team's mission," said Kakashi as he snatched Tora out of his hand. "She lost the cat, so she'll have to retrieve it herself."

"Wait don't—" Kasa dove to catch the cat as he let Tora go, but paled when she realized what she's done.

"Oh look, you're not that scared of it after all," said Kakashi with a sadistic sort of cheeriness, though, he only did it to see how far the fear went. If the fear was debilitating that might be dangerous for her in the future.

"Kakashi, you sadist," sighed Obito as he went to save the screaming girl from the cat.

Obito traded some words with Kasa, bemoaning his lack of reputable name on the field before they were interrupted by Kurei.

"Yuhi-san," greeted Kakashi evenly. The last time he saw the man was during the Kyubi attack, but that was hardly a time for conversation.

"You've grown," noted Kurei solemnly.

"Everyone grows," said Kakashi as he turned to grab Obito by the back of his flak jacket. Though they were in anbu, often times they kept to the normal jounin uniform to better blend in. "If you will excuse us, we have a mission to attend to. We're behind schedule as is."

That was a lie, but Obito picked up on the fact that he didn't want to be there anymore and followed up. "I said I was sorry!"

"Getting a cat out from a tree is no a valid excuse," said Kakashi as he dragged him off.

"You okay?" asked Obito once they were at a good distance away from Kurei.

"I'm fine," said Kakashi.

"What's the deal with you and Kurenai's dad?" asked Obito out of curiosity.

"It's nothing, don't think about it," said Kakashi as he ended the conversation there.

Kurei was one of his father's friends, the man had tried to console him, but of course Kurei could barely handle his own daughter, much less someone else's child. Yet, despite his unwillingness to interact with the man, he found himself running into Kurei Yuhi once more when Kushina decided to throw an impromptu celebration for Kasa's graduation to genin under the guise of a C-ranked mission… even though the girl graduated quite some months ago.

"… You paid a C-rank mission to throw a party?" asked Kasa in astonishment.

"Yep," chirped Kushina in turn.

Amusement briefly crossed his face as he watched Kasa bicker with her teammates and the Uchiha boys. Kurei who watched the whole affair, pinched the bridge of his nose to stem off an oncoming headache. Tesuri on the other hand tried to console the man by patting him on the shoulder with reassuring words. Kakashi had no clue what came over him in that moment, but a bout of vindictiveness took over as he added his two cents.

"It's hardly an issue right now," drawled Kakashi as he looked into his cup. "In a few years Kasa's going to be a teenager and then you won't have to worry about her bickering with boys. All you have to worry about are the constant suitors that's trying to get her into their beds. If she resembles Kushina-san in any sense, she'll probably be quite a beauty when she grows up."

The color on the two men's faces changed. Kurei into a pale white and Tesuri into a shade of angry red. Kakashi spotted Kasa glancing at him with a puzzled expression on her face and he in turn gave her a friendly wave. Her brows furrowed as if sensing that he had done something she wasn't going to like. Little did she know, he initiated her father's overprotectiveness towards her that would eventually turn into maniac obsession to keep any potential suitor away.

* * *

During the peace talks with Kiri, Kakashi and Obito were assigned as guards to escort the negotiations team. Of course, none of it went well, when Yagura demanded that they return the three-tailed beast. Not only would that mean the death of Rin, but that would also mean the death of Kasa as well. While Kiri had no clue that the beast was split in half, if the negotiations allowed them to have Rin, they'll no doubt find out about the split and demand to have Kasa not long after.

Obito took the news poorly and abruptly interrupted the peace talk with his own slew of thoughts and insults. In the end, thanks to his reckless actions, Kakashi and Obito, along with the negotiations team had to fight their way out of Kiri in order to return to Konoha. Much to his surprise, just when they thought Kiri was going to finally take them down a barrier of trees came between them and the enemies.

"…Kinoe?" said Kakashi in surprise when the boy appeared in front of him with an offered hand.

"No time to talk, the barrier won't hold for long," said the boy as he helped him up and went off to help Obito up as well.

The trip back to Konoha was a strenuous ordeal. While Kiri-nin no longer continued their pursuit once they were crossed the Land of Fire border, it didn't mean they were safe from the other threats. In order to make sure the negotiations team got back to Konoha safely, they posed as a distraction to lead away their pursuers.

"What the hell?" growled Obito lowly as they hid and waited for their pursuers to leave. "Who the hell are these people? They're not Kiri-nin."

"They're Konoha-nin right?" noted Kakashi as he directed his attention to Kinoe.

"What?" hissed Obito in outrage. "Konoha-nin? Why the hell are they trying to kill us then?"

Kinoe said nothing. Due to the curse seal placed on his tongue he was limited with what he could tell them without being subjected to unbearable pain. At the moment, they couldn't afford to have him out of commission. Not that it was hard for Kakashi to make his own conclusion.

"Let me guess, Danzo wants us dead," droned the silver-haired anbu captain as he eyed Kinoe.

The young wood-user nodded without a word.

"Danzo?" repeated Obito in confusion. "Why does he want us dead?"

"I have guesses," murmured Kakashi as he studied Kinoe's reactions closely. "One, we've annoyed him enough that he wants to use this dispute with Kiri as an excuse to get rid of us. Or two, he wants to use our death as a means to start conflict with Kiri. Regardless the reason, neither are in our favor."

"Are you serious?" hissed Obito as he kept a wary eye out for their pursuers. "Why would he want to start a conflict with Kiri? We've been trying to make peace with the damn place!"

"It's for the benefit of Konoha," said Kinoe at last. It seems the curse seal didn't hinder him on this matter, which meant it was either information that wasn't directly related to Danzo's secret organization or information Danzo wanted them to know. "If Kiri is to incite a war after Konoha attempted to make peace, they would be the one at fault."

"This is bull shit!" snapped Obito.

At his shout of indignation, a barrage of shuriken rained upon them and ended their conversation sharply. They were forced to relocate and abandon their line of questioning until they made their way back to Konoha, but even then the attacks seemed to grow more and more relentless as they drew closer to the village.

Even with Kinoe's help, their situation looked grim. They were outnumbered, exhausted and cornered. With everything as is, they were going to die before they could make back to Konoha. Wryly, he wondered if Kasa saw this coming.

"Tch," Obito clicked his tongue in annoyance as he grabbed onto him and Kinoe.

"Obito, what are you—" Kakashi never finished as he felt a distortion in the air.

Before they knew it, the world shifted and they were in a dark and silent landscape.

"…What is this place?" murmured Kinoe in confusion as he took a step back to glance around the dark landscape.

"Obito?" questioned Kakashi as he glanced to his teammate.

"They won't be able to get here. We'll be safe until they leave," murmured Obito with a tone he wasn't familiar with.

"Where is here?" asked Kinoe again as he walked to the edge of the platform of a perfectly shaped block among the many in the darkness.

"Take this time to get some rest. You'll need for the rest of the trip back," said Obito before he slumped down to his knees.

"Obito!" shouted Kakashi as he caught him.

"…Huh?" murmured Obito in confusion as he blinked rapidly. "What just… huh? What happened? What?"

"Obito?" repeated Kakashi with a frown as his teammate turned to him with confusion over his face.

"Kakashi… what just happened? One minute we were… and then suddenly… huh?" murmured Obito as he pressed a hand to his head at a complete loss.

"You don't remember?" asked Kakashi with a frown.

"No, I do. I remember everything that just happened, but… it felt like I wasn't in control?" said the former Uchiha with furrowed brows.

Kakashi didn't know what to make of the situation. The loss of control? Someone was controlling his teammate? Could it be Danzo? No it can't be, it would be pointless for him to do this if he wanted their deaths to start the conflict with Kiri.

"Do you know what could've brought us here?" asked Kakashi after a moment.

"It was… it had something to do with the sharingan," said Obito with a frown. "I could feel chakra rushing to my eye… but before that… there was a voice."

"A voice?" asked Kakashi.

"Yeah… he said move," frowned Obito as he scratched his head.

"Move?" repeated Kakashi.

"I don't know!" huffed Obito as he threw up his arms. "I don't normally have voices in my head you know!"

He could only speculate what was happening with his teammate. The unintended activation of the sharingan, the unknown voice and the loss of control. The sharingan was the Uchiha clan's pride and strength. They kept its secrets close to their hearts and away from anyone that wasn't a part of their clan. There could be psychological side effects that was kept secret and under wraps, but without an Uchiha to confirm his theories that was all it could be, theories.

"Do you know if we could get out of here?" asked Kakashi.

"No clue," shrugged Obito as he glanced up to the unending blackness above them. "I could probably try to do what he did earlier… but that ate away a lot of chakra before. I probably won't be able to try it until I've recovered some."

"How about the voice?" asked Kinoe. "Could you talk to him?"

Obito frowned in concentration as if trying to do so, but slumped his shoulders a moment later. "I got nothing."

"I guess… all we could do now is rest like the voice suggested then," murmured Kinoe.

"Probably," sighed Obito as he plopped down on the ground spread eagle before he joked. "Hopefully he doesn't take over and kill all of us in our sleep right?"

"…That's not very reassuring," mumbled Kinoe as he took a seat near them and wrapped his arms around his legs.

The group grew silent as Kakashi kept a tired eye on all of them. Obito was the first to drift off and Kinoe followed next. Even as his eyes started to drift, he forced himself to stay awake.

"…Go to sleep," grumbled Obito as he stared up at him with half-lidded eyes.

"You're not Obito," said Kakashi. "Who are you?"

"Stop being a paranoid bastard and sleep. I'm the least of your problems compared to Danzo," continued the other.

Kakashi grew quiet. The speech mannerisms resembled every bit of his teammate, the only difference was the air of maturity. A split personality maybe?

"I promise, I'll send all of you out once you've recovered. You have my word," said the other.

At that promise, Kakashi found himself unable to refuse. This voice, this split personality was still Obito, even if he was different.

"Obito… but not…" murmured Kakashi.

What could've caused this split? The sharingan's manifestation? The usage of the sharingan? Couldn't be, if that was the case, he would've experienced the split too. Maybe… when Obito died? The trauma could possibly cause the split, due to Obito's immaturity, a more serious personality surfaced in order to ensure his survival.

"What are you thinking now?" sighed the other.

"You appeared after Obito was crushed didn't you?" asked Kakashi.

"…Stupid observant pain in the ass," grumbled the other under his breath and Kakashi found a grin threatening to tug at the corner of his lips. "Just go to sleep."

Obito's eye closed and his body resumed it steady breaths and his body relaxed into sleep once more, ending further conversation.

With some reluctance, Kakashi finally gave in and slept as Tobi suggested. It was a restless sleep as it was impossible to completely relax in an unknown territory with two possible unknowns in close proximity. One being Kinoe, an operative under Danzo's control and the other a split personality that seem to be able to take over his teammate's body at will.

Fortunately, Tobi kept to his word and when they woke, he sent them all out of the strange darkness. Obito tried several times to talk to him out loud, but it didn't seem like his mysterious other personality wanted to talk. The Root operatives that were after them were long gone and the trip back to Konoha became considerably easier.

By the time they made it back to Konoha, Kakashi and Obito were far beyond exhausted, but they were fortunate enough to get an audience with the hokage before the iryo-nins managed to haul them off to the hospital. Unfortunately, despite their claims, the aged leader refused to press charges against Danzo.

"Hokage-sama!" grounded out Kakashi. "I implore you to do something about Danzo. His actions are getting out hand and he's over reaching his boundaries. Can't you see this?"

Their aged leader remained silent.

"He's going to kill Kinoe because he went against orders to help us!" snapped Obito as he slammed his hands on the man's desk. "Are you just going to let him?"

Kinoe shifted uncomfortably as the Third turned his steady gaze over him.

"…Are you the one that Kakashi intercepted after attempting to assassinate Kasa Mon?" asked the man.

"… Yes sir," replied Tenzo quietly.

"Why have you decided to suddenly go against Danzo's orders to save Kakashi and Obito?" asked the hokage.

"Well… I…" Kinoe's eyes widened as he fumbled over his words and looked down to his feet.

"Yes?" continued Hirzuen with folded hands waiting for his reply.

"…Kakashi-san showed me mercy," mumbled the young boy. "Despite the fact that I tried to kill Kasa. I thought… it was unfair that…"

The man breathed through his nose and sighed. "I'll have a word with Danzo."

"Hokage-sama?" frowned Kakashi.

"The negotiations team has debriefed me on the situation with Kiri prior to your return. As things are now, relations with them are shaky at best," noted the man. "Danzo demanded an evaluation of Kasa to be made."

"What?" Obito snapped. "Are you just going to go with his demands?"

"If you wish to keep Kinoe alive, you would have to give Danzo a reason for him to stay so," said Hiruzen.

"…What do you have in mind, Hokage-sama?" asked Kinoe in confusion.

"Kasa-kun is still rather volatile regarding to her usage of the Three-tailed beast's chakra. Danzo claims that she needs a keeper of sorts to monitor her actions and intervene if necessary," explained the man.

"You… want me to guard her?" said Kinoe in surprise. "But I tried to kill her!"

"More the reason Danzo would allow this," continued the Third. "Though, I doubt he would complain if I decided to take you under my command."

No words could explain the thoughts that ran through Kakashi's mind. Even though their leader was unwilling to punish Danzo for the crimes he's committed, he had no issue in idly issuing orders to take the man's subordinates… He would try to make sense of the man's logic, but he was already too exhausted for their sort of brainwork.

Neither he nor Obito was in any condition to resist the iryo-nins that dragged them off to the hospital soon after. They were left at Rin's tender care. And by tender care, he meant a relentless tongue-lashing and blatant lack of gentleness. Both of them suffered bouts of chakra exhaustion and made no attempt to defend themselves as sleep overtook them.

By the time they've recovered and came to, Kinoe had already went through the evaluations with Kasa under the new guise as Tenzo. The girl's lack of hair, burn injuries and various bandages sent alarms through Kakashi's mind, but she interacted with the newly dubbed Tenzo comfortably with no reservations. The manner she spoke to him made him think that maybe she had seen a vision that told her he was trustworthy.

Somewhat reassured by her interactions with Tenzo, Kakashi relaxed when Tenzo was reassigned into the Anbu Corps under Team Ro under him and Obito. With Kasa assigned to the hospital for the next six months, Tenzo needn't to stay guard over her immediately. It was safer to keep him by Obito and himself in case Danzo decided that he wanted Tenzo dead.

* * *

In the time he spent with Tenzo, Kakashi realized the young man was dreadfully terrified of Kasa's father. He constantly hid behind Obito in the presence of the man, as if worried that Tesuri would murder him at a moment's notice. Even so, the boy became quick friends with Kasa and even helped her find a way around her inability to make seals. Just in time for the chunin exams in Kiri.

…Which he still questioned the soundness of the hokage's decision to send her. He understands that they need to appear strong in the eyes of their enemies, but to send a jinchuriki with the very demon that the wanted sounded absurd. Then there was the fact that he took Obito and himself that caused an interactional conflict nearly a year prior as his guards to Kiri. He's starting to think that their hokage was getting senile. If not for his sensei's death, the man would've been retired by now.

Tenzo had gone along in secret to keep guard over Kasa incase Kiri figured out her jinchuriki status and decided to take her. To send an oracle off into enemy territory was ridiculous, but then again the Third had no clue of her abilities as an oracle. Kakashi could only wait with bated breath for news of the preliminary of the chunin exams. When he heard news that she managed to get into the finals, he felt a heavy weight drop to the pit of his stomach. He didn't need to be an oracle to know that things could go horribly wrong with this.

…And he was right.

"Winner of the fifth match, Utakata of Kirigakure," announced Kisame Hoshigaki, the proctor to the final exam.

The auburn-haired girl dropped motionless to the ground after her opponent skewered and discarded her body aside without a care.

"Kasa!" shouted Obito as he nearly jumped over the railings if not for Kakashi holding him back.

Itachi ran out from one of the exits below in an attempt to revive the girl, but it didn't seem like his efforts bore fruit. Kakashi kept a firm hand on Obito as he watched the scene below with a grimace. Through the entirety of her two matches, she bluffed her way through with subterfuge and likely knowledge from her oracle abilities. Her Yamanaka teammate made his way into the stadium and took her out with much fuss after punching the Uchiha heir aside and snatching her motionless body from his arms.

This was horrible oversight. There was a chance that she really was dead, but he couldn't go check. He had the hokage to guard and a panicked teammate to calm down. He would have to trust Tenzo to handle the matter.

"Where are you going?" droned Kakashi at the sight of his restless teammate.

"To the bathroom, do I need to report that to you too?" grumbled Obito as he stomped off. No doubt finally losing what little patience he had in waiting for news.

"Don't take too long," said Kakashi offhandedly though he knew full well the other was going after Kasa to see if she was okay.

He would like to do the same, but it would be risky for both of them to suddenly disappear… though he probably should have… since his idiot teammate decided to drag the girl into a prank against the entire stadium. What kind of an idiot was he!?

"Why…" A morbid corpse of the auburn-haired girl dragged itself into the stadium with a sadistic giggle as she slowly lifted a hand to run her fingers through the unruly blood drenched strands and pulled it back. "So serious?"

"…Those fucking idiots," muttered Kakashi under his breath as the stadium screamed in horror.

He glanced to the Mizukage and noted the youthful looking man was unamused by her performance. Fortunately, the situation was resolved by the edgy Uchihas down below who didn't take well to Kasa's departure earlier to destroy the horrible prank. Followed by another performance from Kasa to assure that the prank was nothing more than harmless fun.

Kakashi was going to kill Obito when he got his hands on him.

After much discussion between the three kages, they somehow managed to leave Kiri unscathed without somehow worsening their situation. Maybe their hokage hasn't completely lost his touch just yet. Even so, when they got back, the man then went on ahead and promoted Kasa to chunin… despite the fact that her mental evaluation noted by Inoichi that she suffered from the bout in Kiri at her near death experience and required monthly consultation to alleviate the matter.

At first the girl looked rather distraught due to the prank Obito coerced her into, but eventually she coped with the presence of her new teammates. Conflict between Konoha and Kiri remained at a precarious state, but it seemed manageable and relatively harmless as Kasa didn't show outward signs of worry or stress from a possibly outbreak of war.

If anything, she seemed to enjoy joining Obito in his pranks. Such as somehow getting a hold of his bank account information and flooding his house with pornographic reading materials and posters… lots and lots of posters. They even got him a body pillow with a woman on it. Sometimes he really hated them.

"If you keep that stupid grin on your face, it's going to get stuck," commented Kakashi when he spotted the girl in passing.

"Hmm?" She glanced up at his voice and shot him a bright grin. "Yo! Reading porn and/or smut out in the open again, Kakashi?"

"It would be rather rude of me to just throw them away as you've so kindly bought them with my own money, bent all the book spines so I couldn't return them and shipped them directly to my house with a large and suggestive poster plastered over the door to my apartment for all to see," commented Kakashi offhandedly as he turned the page.

"Study shows, repressing yourself is unhealthy. I was just doing you a favor," grinned the girl impishly.

"I'm quite sure the tenants in my building agree with you whole heartedly with all the letters I've received since then," drawled Kakashi.

"I'm sure they all say the nicest things about you." She sniggered.

They exchanged some words, most were light-hearted on her part, but he could see signs that she was starting to build up a mask of her own on the surface. Something wasn't right. Why would she suddenly decide to put up masks?

It wasn't until the even after that he found out what was wrong.

"KASA-NEE STOP!" shouted Sasuke as Kakashi and Tenzo arrived at the scene of blood and gore.

"Sasuke," growled Kasa in annoyance with an expression he's never seen on her face.

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" chanted the boy desperately as he clung to her waist. "You're an iryo-nin aren't you? You're supposed to heal people not cause pain!"

Kakashi eyes narrowed when she started snarling in an unfamiliar language and knocked out the boy. Sasuke slumped against her and she gave a careless nudge to push his body aside without a thought. Something's not right.

"That… doesn't seem like Kasa," murmured Tenzo with a frown.

"Stop her," ordered Kakashi without drawing his attention away from the girl.

"Tsk," clicked the girl in annoyance when Tenzo's branches ensnarled her in place. A slow grin tug at her lips before she spoke again in the unfamiliar tongue before her body slumped into the branches' hold.

"Kasa," called out Kakashi as he approached with caution.

"…Forget me and get to the Hyugas," rasped out the girl with a broken laugh. The expression on her face looked pained and miserable as if she was in shock. "They're after the byakugan. These delegates are nothing more than frauds using the guise of the treaty to get in."

"What?" whispered Tenzo with widened eyes.

Damn it, another split personality? First Obito and now her? He wanted to stay to make sure she was okay, but at the same he needed to get to Hyugas before another international incident occurs again.

"Keep an eye on her," commanded Kakashi. "She seems to be in control at the moment, but do what you must if that changes."

He rushed off to the Hyugas and barely made it before Hiashi landed the killing blow on the Kumo delegate.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Hiashi with a scowl.

"Kumo will use the death of their shinobi to lay blame on Konoha if you kill him," said Kakashi once the delegate was knocked out and Hinata Hyuga was safe in her father's arms once more.

"They tried to kidnap my daughter!" snarled the man.

"And they would have demanded your death if you followed through," reasoned Kakashi coldly. "Let me take him to T&I and allow hokage-sama to deal with this."

With reluctance, Hiashi agreed and allowed him to take the Kumo delegate away. Even as Kakashi hauled him off to T&I his mind drifted back to the broken expression over Kasa's face. She knew, but… for some reason she didn't stop it.

"Kakashi, please bring Kasa-kun to my office," ordered Hiruzen wearily after he debriefed the man of the situation.

This was a political nightmare. He managed to find Kasa taking refuge at Obito's apartment, but she seemed rather out of it when he escorted her to the hokage's office. She tried to joke on the way there, but the humor didn't quite reach her eyes. Even the pleasantries she traded with the hokage sounded empty as she placed up a fake smile.

"Hokage-sama…" She murmured quietly as she raised her eyes to meet his. "Respectfully, I would like to request a transfer of allegiance… to Uzushiogakure."

"Transfer of allegiance…" sighed Hiruzen warily. "I never thought I would ever hear that term again after Uzushio's destruction. I was certain Kushina's transfer would be the last."

Kakashi listened as she tried to offer up some sort of way out for Konoha out of the whole mess, but ultimately the plan required her to sacrifice herself in order for it to work. He had to applaud the hokage for once to deny and discard her offer without a thought, but that mattered little when Danzo entered fray uninvited.

"I see you're still deciding on what to do with the jinchuriki," droned the bandaged man as he entered the room.

Kakashi could see the visible tensing on Kasa's back as she did what she could to not look at the man. He couldn't fault her as Danzo constantly went out of his way to get rid of her. What did the man have against her? He didn't know, but he couldn't just let him have his way. The hokage's not likely to god against for whatever reason he has.

"I agree," interrupted Kakashi.

"…You agree?" noted Danzo with a raised brow, surprised that Kakashi wasn't voicing against him for once.

"Under inner village protocols, I agree that she should have accosted the intruders and captured them for interrogations," recited Kakashi. "Had she done so, this whole ordeal could have been avoided."

Danzo eyed him speculatively. "If her fate was up to you, what suitable action should be taken for her actions?"

"Extract the demon, kill her and hand her corpse to Kumo," said Kakashi bluntly without batting his eye.

"Is that so?" drone Danzo a faint twitch tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Of course, that choice would be logical if Kasa was a boy," continued Kakashi as he relaxed in his stance. He couldn't show weakness in front of the man. He needed to appear confident and certain of his own words.

"What does it matter if she's a girl or a boy?" asked Danzo with a frown.

Kakashi went on explaining the benefits of keeping Kasa in Konoha as a breeding subject. The girl looked visibly sick as she closed her eyes to block out the conversation. The exchange continued for some time before Kasa finally snapped at the stress of the whole ordeal.

"Why do you have to pick on me you big meanie!?" wailed the girl uncontrollably as she desperately tried to stop herself from crying.

Danzo was indignant and Hiruzen was exhausted. No one was happy in the room.

"Kakashi-kun, if you may. Could you please escort Kasa-kun home and keep an eye on her until she calms down?" asked Hiruzen as he gave him the nod to take her away, away from the room, away from Danzo.

"As you wish hokage-sama," said Kakashi despite Danzo's vocal protests, but he no intention of taking her home. He had allowed things to pass by long enough.

It was obvious that Kasa sees more than what she's willing to share, but at the same time, it wasn't something she could handle on her own. It wasn't even something he could handle with her. He needed help, they needed help. The only person he could trust regarding to this matter was his sensei's advisor, Shikaku Nara. There were no one else.

When he brought her to the Nara compound though, the man already knew why he was there.

"…She can't handle her visions anymore can she?" sighed the man before he motioned for him to follow him inside.

"You knew about her visions?" asked Kakashi in surprise after they situated her in the guest room with Shikamaru watching over her.

"Among other things," said Shikaku cryptically as he took a sip of his tea.

"Why didn't you—" Kakashi started, but one look from the man silenced him.

"Visions of the future isn't something to be lightly handled. One wrong move could ripple into a disaster," interrupted Shikaku. "And from what you've told me, she cannot see unto her own future. If she decides to change the events in her visions, it could likely change everything for better or for worst."

"Then what do we do?" asked Kakashi.

"Make sure she survives," answered Shikaku. "The stress of knowing the future is not for any child. If she's pushed too far. Something drastic and detrimental may happen."

"Like what?" asked Kakashi.

"If we're lucky, it's only her death and no one else," murmured Shikaku.

"And at the worst?" asked Kakashi.

Shikaku eyes met his gaze with all seriousness. "The fourth shinobi war."

Kakashi swallowed thickly at the man's prediction. While the Nara was no oracle, his intellect and ability to oversee the bigger picture made him almost as good as one.

"…Shikaku-san," greeted Kasa tiredly when they finally made a decision of what to do with her.

She looked ragged as if she hasn't slept for days. Shikaku tried to be gentle with his scolding, but in the girl's tired state, she didn't seem like she could even handle that much. She looked as though she would break any second and Kakashi found himself move before any of them could continue.

SLAP

He hand stung as he stared down at the girl. She didn't move to rest her hand of her cheek. He would've preferred her glaring at him in anger, she just… sat there.

"…Kakashi, you could've handled that with a bit more…finesse," commented Shikaku and the silver-haired anbu captain grimaced at his own actions. Too late to take it back now.

"We don't have the luxury of letting her wallow in self-pity," noted Kakashi. "Hokage-sama said he will handle the matter, but chances are that we would need to take drastic action. As things stand now, we have limited options."

"It would be unfavorable for Kumo to get a hold of an oracle," agreed Shikaku. Kasa flinched, startled at the mention of her gift. "No need for such a face he has been aware of your status long before Inoichi brought you to me."

"What?" She said in surprise as she turned her gaze to Kakashi.

"You knew too much for your age." He replied at her inquiring gaze.

"If you knew, but why didn't you…" She started, but trailed off with slumped shoulders slumped as dejection replaced determination "Right… What do you want me to do?"

It was sad to see her bear through it all with a fake smile plastered over her face. When they had gone off to the hospital to plant seeds of doubt and fear into the Kumo delegates, she pulled off the act of derangement flawlessly. To the point that even he had trouble differentiating whether it was an act at all.

"It's raining… It's pouring… the old man is snoring…" Her haunting song echoed through the empty halls in the hospital as he waited a reasonable distance away to allow her to do her work. The lyrics sounded strange as if it shouldn't be sung in their language, he absently wondered if it was supposed to be sung in that language that she spoke in when she killed those Kumo delegates.

Kasa said nothing when she passed by him in the halls. She took the offered umbrella from his hand, but made no move to actually use it when she left the hospital. He shadowed her to make sure she got home as she didn't seem like her mind was all there. Once she was in the care of her father and Kushina, he went off to the hokage to make his report and to formally request to take Kasa under his wing in anbu. Things were going to worsen for her from here on out and he needed to make sure she could survive it with her mind intact.

Just only… her mind was already fractured and broken.

"Hehe, hahaha! What's the matter Kakashi?" said the girl in sadistic glee after she sent off a barrage of attacks towards him. "Didn't you say you were going to kill us? What happened to those big words just now? Bring it on you little pissant!"

"Us?" frowned Kakashi, this must be the split. "Kasa?"

"Sorry! Kasa-chan's not here at the moment! It's Rayne in the house!" cackled the girl as she gave a careless shrug. "Or out… whatever floats your boat. Either way, I'm going to fuck you hard."

"What?" said Kakashi with furrowed brows. Compared to Obito's split… this one was deranged.

"Not that way… unless you want to?" said Rayne with a waggle of her brow.

"…You're not Kasa," growled Kakashi. There was no way this was Kasa. Could it be the Three-tailed beast? "Who the hell are you?"

"Duh, I'm Rayne, weren't you listening," drawled Rayne as she idly waved her hand. "For a so-called genius, you're rather slow."

"Where is Kasa? What did you do to her?" growled Kakashi.

"Excuse me? What did I do? The better question is, what did you do? Mr. I'm-going-to-kill-you!" retorted girl in a mocking voice. "Just when I've finally got her hands dirty, you asshats went ahead and gave her all this shit about killing and then stuck her in anbu, which by the way specializes in killing! Make up your fucking mind. The carrot or the stick, if you use both, how the hell is anyone supposed to figure out what the hell you want?"

Kakashi's eye narrowed in suspicion as he stared at her. She was callous and uncaring, unlike Kasa who constantly tried to save those around her.

"…You're the one who killed the Kumo-nins," he accused.

"Correction, I killed the first one, the other one was done by Kasa," said Rayne. "I prefer my kills with a certain amount of flair, being the evil other half and all. It's a part of the job description you know?"

"Where is Kasa now?" demanded Kakashi.

"In here," chirped Rayne as she tapped her head mockingly. "Oh, don't worry, she'll have her body back as soon as you stop trying to kill us. I personally hate dealing with you lot so I rather not come out if at all. I really don't see what she sees in you people. I would just let you all kill each other and be done with it."

"You can take over her body at will?" asked Kakashi with narrowed eyes.

"Well…" drawled Rayne playfully. "I could say no and you don't believe me or I could say yes, in which case you'd stop believing Kasa. Neither a preferable outcome, because we're just going to go in circles with you not believing a word I say and me trying to convince you I'm not lying. So, how about I make a deal with you?"

"What makes you think I would agree to such a deal?" frowned Kakashi.

"Now, now, don't be so hasty. The only reason she's in anbu is to keep her out of public view until she's badass enough on her lonesome," drawled Rayne. "But as we both know she's hardly anbu material. She'd be ousted by her fellow anbu peers long before she managed to create and uphold her own rep."

"And?" asked Kakashi. Where was she going with this?

"Well, as you can see. I occupy a part of Kasa's damaged little mind and contrary to what she thinks, I rather like being alive," said Rayne. "So, here's my proposition. I'll do any dirty work she can't handle and you keep her out of the bullshit politics that involves Danzo. Of course, you still need to train her to get over being squeamish about killing and maiming, I can only do so much."

She's… haggling. He realized. Why does she think she needs to haggle when she very much have Kasa hostage at this point?

"Not very fond of Danzo?" noted Kakashi.

"Please," scoffed Rayne. "As if you're fond of him. Given the choice, you would probably join me in torching his saggy nut sack just for the fun of it."

Kakashi said nothing. Despite her vulgarity, she looked out for Kasa.

"What? Did I disturb you with that image? My bad," said Rayne with half-assed sincerity. "Well, whether you believe me or not I've said my piece. If you're really a genius, you'd take up my offer. If you don't…"

"If I don't?" Kakashi took up her challenge of a threat. If she really was looking out for Kasa, she wouldn't give out a threat that would potentially harm the auburn-haired girl.

"Hmmm…There's really not much I could or would do to you," said Rayne with a nonchalant shrug and a flourished bow. "For you are beloved by the goddess."

Beloved by the goddess?

"What's that supposed to mean?" scowled Kakashi.

"You mull over that," said Rayne with a fake yawn and a wave. "I'm out!"

Before he could shout for wait, Kasa's body went limp like a puppet with its strings cut. Kakashi tensed and retreated backwards in preparation for an ambush in case it was just a ruse, but it never came. Kasa stumbled forward in a drunken manner and collapsed to her knees.

"…God damn it Rayne!" She screamed in fury, voice cracking as she dug her fingers into the ground with a death grip. "Every time…. Every fucking time! Why do you insist of making my life a living hell?"

Every time? How long ago did this split happen?

"…Kasa?" asked Kakashi with quiet caution.

"Shut up Kakashi!" She snarled as chakra flared viciously around her as she smashed her head into the ground. "Suspect me, kill me, do whatever the hell you want. Just shut up!"

He could only watched as she screamed and raged until her throat turned raw. By the time she was done, she laid broken on the ground with the mask hiding her face. A hoarse laugh escaped her as she laid spread eagle with her eyes to the sky. A broken melody slipped pass her lips as she sung in that strange language once more. Was that the language of the oracles?

Kakashi couldn't be certain. He watched until her eyes drifted close and her breaths became steady. She was not meant for anbu, but he couldn't think of any other way to speed up her progress to ensure her survival. He hauled her off the ground and proceeded to take her to the forest of death. A week of survival training should be a good place as any to start.

"S-stay away!" She screamed as the spiders closed in on her.

Kakashi did his best to stay back as she panicked and eventually scared them off by blowing up one of their brethren. She shook after the kill and gave off a broken laugh.

"…I really don't want to die…" she whimpered and buried her face in her hands. "I really don't want to die."

She struggled and trudged her way through the forest. She was hardly squeamish over capturing and killing her dinner, but she still seemed to have some reserve when it came to using that explosive touch of hers. She had no trouble surviving off the land with her extensive knowledge in flora and fauna due to her medical expertise and she improvised with whatever she could get a hold of.

At least he didn't have to worry if they ever separated and left to her own devices. With that relief in mind, he only kept an eye on her sparingly over the two weeks until she finally made it out of the forest.

"…Kakashi," she greeted him evenly when she spotted him waiting for her outside the gates of the forest.

"How was your stay?" he pretended to show disinterest as he flipped through the book he carried. He wasn't really reading it, not when his attention was on the girl's mental state.

"…You know how you said I was going to hate you by the end of this?" She murmured quietly.

"And?" he replied and turned another page, fully expecting venom and hate to come at him.

"…I don't hate you," said the girl and surprised him to a stop. "Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to eviscerate you some point in the future for dumping me in the forest after beating shit out of me and robbing me of my equipment, but…" She took a breath. "It did help clear up my head a bit and I don't see the point in hating you when you're just trying to prepare me for the worse in anbu."

This girl… she's really not meant for anbu.

"I see," said Kakashi as he snapped his book close and turned to leave. "Stop by the hospital to see Rin before you head home. We'll take mission requests once she gives you a clean bill of health. I'll see to getting you a new uniform before then and introduce you to the rest of the team."

"Kakashi…" She cut in before he could leave. "About Rayne…"

"I don't see any clouds today," said Kakashi as he pocketed his hands and glanced up to the sky.

"But—" She started.

"And even if it does rain," continued Kakashi as he glanced back to the uncertain girl. He knew she was trying to look for reassurance, but this sort of thing really wasn't his strong point. "We have a sturdy umbrella now. A little rain won't have any lasting damage."

She grew quiet and he left before the silence could grow awkward. This sort of thing was better suited for Obito or Rin.

* * *

"…I leave you alone for one evening and you go traumatizing civilian children and their mothers," said Kakashi in a deadpan the next time they met. Somehow she seemed to have a knack in getting into trouble.

Kasa in turn took up her Crimson Terror façade and acted accordingly as they passed by fellow anbu members. They needed to build on top of this faux reputation of hers and she did so without argument. Though, it wasn't as he hoped it would be. When she got into a scuffle with one of the other anbu and Tenzo accidentally got caught in the friendly fire.

"Argh!" Tenzo grunted painfully as he broke his arm away from the wood before Kasa's explosive touch could reach him.

At the hitch of Kasa's breath, he could tell the girl was slipping from her act and quickly moved in to catch her before she could dart over to Tenzo and completely blow her cover.

"Kame," said Kakashi with a commanding tone to catch her attention. "You've proven your point, no need to kill them."

When she didn't respond appropriately, he sent out a wave of killing intent and it snapped her back to her senses.

"Tt." She clicked her tongue in faked annoyance despite the fact she wanted nothing more than to rush over to Tenzo's side and treat his injuries. "I wouldn't want to deal with the paperwork or inquiry about killing an ally anyway."

"You're not off the hook just yet," continued Kakashi as he crossed his arms. "You injured him, you fix him."

"Hmph, if they kept their hands to themselves, I wouldn't have bothered." Her words were scathing, but he could tell she was relieved that she could heal Tenzo.

It was unfortunate that he had to take her on a mission after getting her rattled over hurting friend, but the negotiations team left for Kumo weeks ago. He needed to get started on building her repertoire of skills and reputation if peace talks with Kumo went sour.

"So… where's my first mission going to be?" asked Kasa without much humor.

"The Land of Snow," noted Kakashi. "Your mission is to assassinate whoever deems a threat to the Daimyo Sosetsu Kazahana."

"Land of Snow?" She repeated in surprise before halting altogether, unable to take a step more.

"Something wrong?" asked Kakashi when he noticed her sudden silent.

"Nothing… it's just that…" She trailed off with a glazed expression over her face.

"Kasa?" asked Kakashi.

"I'm… fine. Just… Just give me a moment." She whispered and breathed heavily as if to calm herself.

It took a moment before Kakashi realized that she had a vision. By time she gathered herself, she had made resolve.

"…The Crimson Terror will rise," murmured the girl quietly as she strapped her mask on. "The Land of Snow will be stained red."

He hadn't known what she said at the time would become truth weeks later at the end of their mission when he found her giggling on top of the corpse of a princess, surrounded the blood and burning corpses.

"…Rayne?" He called out hesitantly as the girl rolled on top of the princess's corpse.

"Oh right… I could've called Rayne…" murmured Kasa before she broke into another cackle. "She could've made a BIGGER fire…wait no…rain puts out…fires…? Oh! Hey Kakashiii, look what I did! Human bonfire! I killed them and burned them!"

"…Kasa?" Horror crossed over his face as he stared down at the giggling girl. What had he done? Did he completely screw up? Have she finally snapped and lost her mind?

"Fuuuck! It's cold," shouted the girl as she hopped off the ground and starting jumping about to keep warm. "Scarecrow, where the fuck were you? Forget that! The princess is dead. Get me somewhere warm before the idiot fucking freezes to death from hypothermia. She stopped shivering about half an hour back and she's about as coherent as a fruit loop."

"The princess is…" At a lost, it took Kakashi a moment to digest what was said to him before he responded. "Right, we're heading back to the palace."

"Good, then that means the Daimyo's alive. Let's get paid and the hell out of here. Hell! That might even better than this frozen nightmare at this point," grumbled Rayne as she snatched up Kasa's spare clothes and an enemy snowboard before they made their way back to the palace.

She hadn't cared that the entire mountain side was strewn with charred corpses and blood stained snow. She hadn't cared when the daimyo screamed in anguish over the death of his daughter. She barely even cared enough to tell him that Kasa's heart stopped.

"Ugh… and there goes the pain in the left arm… You might want to catch her and start CPR. She's going to into cardiac arrest," grumbled Kasa's split personality as she fell forward into Kakashi's arms after he had dragged her into the bathroom and started to steam up the room with a running hot water from the shower.

"Fuuuck!" cursed Rayne through the pain with a wheezing breath as he did what he could to restart Kasa's heart.

It was strange that she could talk even though Kasa's body was technically dying. He watched her at the corner of his eye as he shocked her in attempts to get the heart restarted. She gritted her teeth through the pain, but complain little else beyond cursing.

"Rayne, are you able to swallow soldier pills?" asked Kakashi.

"Do I look like I can swallow shit right now?" coughed Rayne as she clenched a fistful her shirt and he hastily popped the pills into his own mouth and grinded them down before feeding it to her with a swing of water through mouth to mouth.

"Fuck!" coughed Rayne violently as the remaining liquid dribbled out. "Are you trying to drown us?"

"Can you swallow on your own yet?" asked Kakashi again.

"You're going to drown us to death with mouth-to-mouth force feeding," retorted Rayne, but shook her head anyway in response.

The whole ordeal was a panicked mess. Between him and the potty-mouthed split personality, they somehow managed to drag Kasa back out from the grips of death. Kakashi found his chest gnawed with pain and guilt when the other retreated to the recess of Kasa mind and he held the girl's trembling body against his. How could things go so wrong? Why was it going wrong?

"Stop wallowing, it's bad enough the idiot's near catatonic, I don't need to see your sorry face wracked with guilt either," grumbled Rayne during the boat ride back.

"How's Kasa?" asked Kakashi as he snapped out of his thoughts and looked to the grumpy girl.

"Sleeping and not likely going to wake anytime soon," muttered Rayne as she took a tired breath and ran a hand through Kasa's auburn locks. "Tch, her hair's getting long."

"…How's her body?" asked Kakashi quietly.

"Cold, but recovering," noted the other as she pulled the thick layers tightly over her body.

"And her mind?" he pressed on.

"In shock, but she'll come out of it eventually," muttered Rayne darkly.

"I see…" murmured Kakashi quietly as they fell in silence. He managed to keep her alive, but he couldn't say the same for keeping her sane. He was about to lose himself in his thoughts when he felt smalls arms wrap around his waist and a small body cuddled up next to him. "Rayne?"

"If you insist on being emo, at least pretend to be useful as a hot water bottle," grunted Rayne as she stayed close to keep warm.

He was quite sure Rayne wasn't trying to console him. She did make it clear that her motives were purely for Kasa's survival. Yet… he can't help but get the feeling she was looking out for him too.

"Go to sleep, I'll take night watch," grumbled Rayne as she sat up with a scowl.

"Why?" asked Kakashi as he glanced to the smaller girl with a confused frown.

"You still have to haul her ass back to Konoha, how do you expect to do so half dead in the morning?" scoffed Rayne. "She's in no condition to protect herself."

"And you can't?" asked Kakashi.

"…It's harder to take control when she's awake and at the moment, I don't think allowing her to submerse in the back of her mind would help her any at this rate," grumbled Rayne. "Don't worry, I'm only taking the night watches. She'll be in full control during the day."

True to her words, Rayne took the night watch and the catatonic Kasa returned the morning after. It pained Kakashi to see the younger girl in such a state. Utterly silent and nonreactive to anything around her. He thought returning to Konoha would somehow make her better, but even then she only responded wearily.

"…Can I go home yet?" asked Kasa as they left the admin building after they dropped off their mission report to the anbu office.

"What happened to eating my wallet empty?" asked Kakashi as he attempted to draw her into conversation.

"…I just want to go to bed." She murmured.

"Kasa—" He paused snapped his attention to the sudden threat. His grip on her shoulder tightened as he pulled her back with him to dodge the attack.

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" shouted an exuberant voice before a blur of green flew pass in a cloud of dust.

Gai… He thought darkly. What horrible timing.

"Kakashi, my eternal rival!" announced his self-proclaimed rival as he struck a pose. "I see you've finally returned from your prolonged mission! Come! We must continue our epic rematch!"

"Gai, this really isn't the time," sighed the silver-haired anbu captain as he planted a hand to his face.

"Oh?" said Gai with a frown before his gazed dropped on the girl beside him. "I see you have a youthful maiden in your company."

"Like I said, this isn't a good time," said Kakashi with another sigh.

Gai shifted his attention between the two of them for a moment before an indescribable expression crossed his face. "Kakashi my rival… this girl…"

"What?" replied Kakashi mildly annoyed at being accosted by the man.

"Are you trying to woo her?" frowned Gai with all seriousness on his face. "I know you've been having trouble trying to find a suitable woman that's to your taste, but the age difference with this girl—"

"What are you even talking about?" snapped Kakashi with utter disbelief. Gai couldn't be serious right? Kasa was less than half his age!

"Now, now," said Gai soothingly. "No need to get flustered and embarrassed, people do have their… unique tastes, but you have to know this is highly inappropriate, she can't be older than—"

"She's my subordinate!" grounded out Kakashi, annoyed by the accusation.

"Subordinate?" repeated Gai before he huffed. "That's even more inappropriate!"

"Gai!" growled Kakashi. He really wasn't in the mood for the man's nonsense.

"Really Kakashi, you of all people should—"

"Pft." A snort escaped the auburn-haired girl as she raised a hand to cover her mouth.

Kakashi turned to her in surprise. Did she just laugh?

"Hehe…" Her shoulders shook as she tried to hold back, but eventually she broke into an uncontrollable laughter. "Hahahaha!"

At first he felt relief, but then when her laughs became broken and the tears started pouring from her face, he felt a stab of guilt as she raised her arm to wipe them away before eventually just hid her face behind her hands.

"Kasa?" He called out hesitantly.

"S-sorry," She apologized as she wiped away the tears. "I just didn't think that I could laugh like that again, not after… It's nothing."

Another pang of guilt. He did this. He did this to her.

Kakashi?" queried Gai for an explanation.

"She recently completed her first A-Rank, a guard and assassination assignment," replied Kakashi somewhat reluctantly.

"Oh…" murmured Gai in realization. While he wasn't a part of anbu, he knew about the darker aspects of the field. Abruptly he shot the girl an enthusiastic thumbs up even though he barely knew her. "This calls for a celebration for a job well done!"

"I really—" She started, but he would have none of it.

"Nonsense!" said Gai as he grabbed the girl by the shoulder and Kakashi by the arm. "There's always time for celebration!"

"Gai—" Kakashi protested, but he knew from experience that it was pointless. Once Gai decided over something, he rarely backed out from it.

That was how he ended up with a drunk Kasa and an even drunker Gai in his hands. The small girl was surprisingly a heavy drinker and managed to drink a jounin under the table… only to fall to alcohol poisoning not hours later. That night, Kakashi received possibly the most death threats in his life in one sitting. On another note, that was also the same night he received the most accusations of being a pedophile.

Though… Kasa's play at getting back at him for the stunt he pulled in the Forest of Death didn't help with the matter either.

"But daddy! I love him!" shouted Kasa in a dramatic fashion.

"What?" Kakashi found himself stunned alongside the rest of the room.

"WHAT!?" repeated Tesuri with a roar.

"Am I nothing to you? All those intimate moments we shared!" She said with choked up voice,

"… This is getting back at me for the forest thing isn't it?" Kakashi stared down at her with a twitching eye as she latched her arms around his neck with a positively evil grin.

"Ha…ta…ke…" growled Tesuri as killing intent seeped out of him. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I could never hate you even after that," said the girl as she carefully kept the glee from her voice, but it clearly showed in her eyes.

The silver-haired jounin felt relieved that the life return to those lackluster blue eyes just days before, but still felt mildly peeved that she would abuse the situation to such an extent. Though, he supposed it was his own fault to have created this overprotective father. Hmm… she probably was getting back at him for that too…

"…We'll talk about this later," said Kakashi before he dropped her and made a hasty retreat.

"GET BACK HERE HATAKE!" roared Tesuri in pursuit.

Under normal circumstances, he would've used Tesuri's blind anger as a means to lead the man astray before he slipped away unnoticed. That would only be the case if the man was truly angry. The hospital was barely out of sight when the man's killing intent drop out of existence. When Kakashi glanced back to see if the man had used it as a ploy to get his guard down, he noticed Tesuri's calm demeanor and silent field hand signs.

Kakashi slowed down his pace in surprise when he realized the man wanted to talk. Every fiber of his being screamed at him that this was a trap, but at what Kasa's father signed, he realized that he underestimated the man's ability in recognizing his daughter's fibbing. Even so, it still took him a moment before he decided to stop and humor the man and hear him out.

"You don't have to be defensive, I'm not going to attack," reassured Tesuri when he came within range.

"Excuse me if I find that hard to believe," commented Kakashi with caution.

"Make no mistake, I am still quite livid over last night's stunt and Kasa's hospitalization," noted Tesuri with a frown. "You of all people, I expected to be sensible enough to not allow that to have happened… but I didn't ask to speak with you just to lecture you."

Could have fooled him, Kakashi thought, but wisely kept silent incase the man decided to get violent again.

"Kasa… Isn't really suited for anbu," said Tesuri with a grimace. "No one that goes into iryo ninjutsu really is. That's why there aren't many iryo-nins in anbu."

Kakashi stayed quiet. He knew this already.

"The only reason why she's in there is keep her from enemy clutches… be it Kumo or otherwise," murmured Tesuri as his eyes focused on him. "I understand this and I appreciate the amount of effort you put in to keep her safe. However…"

The familiar cold gaze, reminded Kakashi of the one used when facing her foes. Like father, like daughter he supposed.

"If you _ever_  allow something like this to happen again to my daughter," rumbled the man dangerously as his killing intent spiked up once more. "I will make you regret every second of the rest of your miserable life."

"…I didn't intend for this to happen," replied Kakashi quietly before he lowered his head apologetically. "I won't let this happen again."

"See that you don't," murmured Tesuri, his tone nowhere close to being appeased, but reigned back his killing intent before he turned to leave.

Kakashi kept his gaze to the roof shingles under his feet as even after Tesuri placed some distance between them.

"You really messed up this time didn't you Kakashi?" gruff out Pakkun when he landed on the rooftop and padded his way towards him.

"More than you know," murmured Kakashi with an exhausted sigh as he lifted his head up to stare at the sky. Compared to how he felt, the sky looked obnoxiously bright and hopeful.

As if the fates aimed to mock him further, he found an unexpected visitor waiting for him at his doorstep when he returned home. A very disgruntled Uchiha mother, Mikoto Uchiha to be exact.

"Hatake," greeted the woman icily.

"Good evening Uchiha—" Kakashi began the greeting, but was promptly slapped by the Uchiha matriarch. He didn't retaliate as he turned his gaze to the woman. "I assume you're here because of what happened to Kasa."

"One week in the Forest of Death after her first kill," started Mikoto with cold fury seething in her eyes. "A  _solo-evaluation_  mission in anbu on her first day. Getting her  _drunk_  and  _hospitalized_  upon returning! On top of that, her psyche evaluations are under rank three classification! What the hell were you doing Hatake?"

"You will have to take that up with—"

"Don't give me that nonsense!" scowled Mikoto. "If Kushina and I haven't set up Kasa-chan's engagement to the Uchiha Clan, none us would even know what the hell Kasa-chan's going through."

Clever, Kakashi thought at the back of his mind. Under the old laws, major clans could use engagement contracts as a means to check on their potential additions to the clan.

"What do you want then?" asked Kakashi.

"This isn't about what I want," said Mikoto as she stared him down. "This is about Kasa-chan's well-being. She needs to be able to cope after these anbu missions or else it won't be long before she completely breaks. It's one thing to build up her reputation to protect her, but if there's nothing left to protect, what's the point? Don't forget, regardless how strong of a front she could put up, she's still just a child. You're her commanding officer. Do something about it."

"…Something huh?" murmured Kakashi quietly.

"I know Minato taught you better than this," said Mikoto.

Kakashi fought back a grimace. That stung more than he expected.

"I won't tell you how to do your job, but next time she returns from a mission, I expect to see her  _not_  in the hospital," said Mikoto as she crossed her arms. The 'are you clear' statement was left unsaid.

"…I'll make sure of it," replied Kakashi quietly.

"See that you do," said Mikoto as she gave him one last stern gaze before she left.

Once she was gone, Kakashi made his way into his apartment and slumped against his closed door in exhaustion. He almost wished that Tesuri and Mikoto would've just attempted to kill him instead. At least then he knew what to do. How was he supposed to help Kasa cope when the root of the problem has to deal with her inability to kill indiscriminately?

…Indiscriminate killing?

Kakashi's eye narrowed as Kasa's—no, Rayne's scowling face crossed his mind. She had no issue when it came to killing. Aside from annoyance, she barely showed any other reaction towards the princess's death in the Land of Snow. From what she said during the evenings she took night watch, she could only take over Kasa's body if the girl gives her control or is incapable of doing anything herself.

And while Kasa hated and feared when Rayne took over. She ultimately coped better with the kills Rayne performed on her behalf compared to the kills she performs on her own. If he could somehow convince the girl to have her other personality to handle the extermination aspect of anbu and she deals with the non-killing portion. She might be able to cope.

* * *

When he next spoke with Kasa again, to his surprise, the purple-haired kunoichi that replaced her in her former team accosted her in the middle of the street. Anko Mitaraishi, Orochimaru's last student before he disappeared from Konoha. The girl was three years his junior, about Tenzo's age if he was correct.

"Aren't you a little too young to be doing this sort of thing?" said Seishuu sensei, the man that gave him a tongue lashing prior to Kasa's hospitalization.

Judging by how Kasa spoke with him previously, it seemed like her oracle abilities acted up and she saw snippets of something in the man. What exactly, Kakashi wasn't sure, but he'd make note of it to Shikaku to keep an eye on the man just in case.

"Hey! Let go of Kasa!" shouted Seishuu as Anko snatched Kasa from behind him and made a hasty retreat.

Kakashi frowned when Kasa made no attempts to escape the older kunoichi's hold. At closer observation, he spotted her engaging Anko in casual conversation. He couldn't hear a word that was said with the distance he kept while following, but at the changing expressions of the purple-haired young woman he guessed Kasa must've said something that sat well with the kunoichi.

Strange that Kasa would act so wary around a civilian, but completely at ease with Anko. Does that mean the kunoichi is completely trustworthy? He shook his head and darted forward to snatch Kasa from her arms. Kasa's visions changes over time, he couldn't be completely certain without more observation.

"Kasa, you really shouldn't make a habit of growing attached to your kidnappers." He sighed once the girl was safely under his arm.

She glanced up, mildly surprised by the displacement before shooting a smirk up at him. "Yo, managed to get away from my dad before he killed you, eh?"

"You should also break the habit of trying to get your superior officer killed," droned Kakashi, but his attention kept on the purple-haired kunoichi in front of him. She looked mildly miffed at the loss of her kidnappee.

"You know I do it out of love," grinned Kasa. He wisely chose to ignore the obvious bait.

"Sorry, but any plans you have with Kasa today would have to be postponed, she and I need to have a little chat," said Kakashi as he directed his words to Anko.

"Oh, ruin my fun," huffed the young woman as she propped a hand at her hip and invaded his personal space.

"You have the Uchiha boys to play with," retorted Kakashi dryly and ignore her attempts at using womanly wiles at him. Even if there weren't much of an age difference between them, he's not getting involved with a fifteen-year-old girl. "Go bother them."

"Oh, I will," drawled Anko before a sly grin crossed her lips. "But as you said, they're boys, if you ever get bored with playing with little girls…"

Under normal circumstance, Kakashi would've reacted immediately at a possible threat, but this… didn't qualify as a threat. He stood stunned as Anko pressed her lips against his with the mask between them. He could feel the firmness of her tongue pushing against the fabric as if to tease him. Kasa remained surprisingly still in the short ordeal, most likely just as shocked as him. He felt Anko slip something into his pocket before she pushed away and disappeared over the roof's edge with a teasing wink.

"What did she give you?" asked Kasa once they both regained their wits from the encounter when he reached into his pocket to check what the young woman gave him. His fingers brushed against a small suspiciously square-shaped packet.

"…Nothing," murmured Kakashi as he shoved it deeper into his pocket, resolved to ignoring the boldness of the young kunoichi. This was not a thought to be humored.

"Hmm?" hummed Kasa in amusement. "You do know this totally doesn't help fight against your growing rep of pedophilia right?"

"No thanks to you," grumbled Kakashi, the girl seemed to be more aware of the situation than he liked.

"By the way, your mask has a wet spot," added Kasa and he had to resist the urge to cover a hand over it. She was just stalling by trying to get him embarrassed. "So, what do you want to talk about? If it's about setting my dad off on you yesterday, I'm totally in my—"

"You should have Rayne do the assassinations for you," said Kakashi abruptly. Any other time he might've humored her, but now was not the time. "She can handle the kills better than you can."

"…I'll still be watching and I'll still remember," murmured the girl as the humor slipped from her face.

"But you won't have to do it yourself," amended Kakashi, nearly grimacing at the look on her face. "She did offer to do it in your place once before."

"I know." She closed her eyes. "It probably would be better if she handle that, I don't know what to feel right now. It feels like everything's happening so quickly, but at the same time, nothing happened at all."

"Kasa?" questioned Kakashi as he felt something change. A chill crossed him when he realized why.

"Hello, Kakashi," drawled Rayne in amusement as she opened her eyes.

"Rayne." He dropped the girl in surprise as he took a step back.

"Hey, watch it!" huffed Rayne as she adjusted her fall and caught her footing on the roof. Kasa would've stumbled more. "And here I thought you were starting to miss me."

"Just because I suggested that you take over her assassination assignment, doesn't mean this is an invitation to assume control," said Kakashi coldly. He hadn't expected the girl's darker personality to take over so easily. Didn't she say it was harder for her to take control while Kasa's awake?

"Come off it Kakashi," drawled Rayne with a careless flap of her hand. "You get what you ask for."

"I asked for your assistance in assassinations only, I never mentioned about anything else," grounded out Kakashi as uncertainty crept up on him.

"Then be clearer next time," snorted Rayne with crossed arms and upturned nose. "I'm not a clown for hire."

"Kasa will still be performing anbu missions, you're only in charge of assassinations." Kakashi pressed on. If he allowed her to come out this freely, what would happen to Kasa?

"Of course, of course," sighed Rayne dramatically as she turned her back to him. "Who am I to say otherwise? You're the boss after all."

"Return control to Kasa," ordered Kakashi, a scowl over his face.

"Hey, Kakashi," said Rayne with a disarming grin as she glanced back. "Have you ever heard of the phrase sticks and stones may break my bones, but words could never hurt me?"

Kakashi frowned, uncertain to why she's suddenly decided to be more talkative than usual.

"It okay if you've never heard it, but just to let you know that phrase is full of shit," chirped Rayne. "Broken bones mend easier compared to a broken mind."

He barely had a chance to mull over her words when Kasa's body suddenly slumped and tumbled off the edge of the roof. His hand snatched her out of the air in haste and hauled her back up.

"Kasa?" he asked with uncertainty. Unsure if the girl was still conscious.

"It's me." She murmured quietly before he set her back down on the roof. "I need to get over the disorientation if Rayne's to take the foreground more often."

"…I didn't mean to suggest that she should replace you," murmured Kakashi guiltily after he had a moment to digest Rayne's words. His callous words while aiming for the best intentions had undoubtedly made the girl retreat into her own mind.

"It doesn't bother me, I have to admit that she is comparably better than me in that sort of thing," said Kasa as she ran and absent hand through her hair. Her fingers caught in a tangled mess. "…Could we head back now? I'm quite sure they probably gave me a sponge bath or something of the sort in the hospital, but I much rather take a hot shower right now."

She was tired, but there was so much more they had to do. They couldn't afford to stop now.

"…Of course, let's get you back home," said Kakashi as he fought back the guilt and escorted her home.

* * *

With each mission they took, Kakashi learned a little more about Rayne's quirks. Kasa's darker split had a fondness for songs while she did her killing. Songs that were always sung in a foreign tongue. He had no clue what any of the lyrics meant, but from the expressions on her face, he could only concluded it was something unpleasant.

Another thing he noticed about Rayne, she also had a strong fondness towards the dramatics. It helped greatly in building the Crimson Terror reputation, but at the same time, he wondered how much of that performance was really true. Rayne smiled as much as Kasa did, even if hers were of a more sinister sort. He knew very few people that could upkeep a smile for that long without having a great deal of repressed issues.

The first time he saw anything beyond a sinister smirk was when she developed a healing technique. Surprise crossed her face for no more than a few seconds, but he caught it nonetheless. It was the look of someone who thought they could do no good. He watched as she tried again and again to make that healing technique turn deadly, but in the end she managed to refine it into a healing technique that could heal surface injuries for multiple targets.

Rayne was annoyed, he could tell. As if she saw healing as Kasa's and destruction as hers. The fact that Kasa developed the destructive technique and she developed the counter to it didn't sit well with her. She eventually resorted to using the healing technique as a means to torture the enemies further before she finally killed them.

Inoichi had mentioned on several occasions that he was not to treat Rayne any different from he treated Kasa and that he shouldn't allow Rayne or Kasa to distance each other any further. They were supposedly one and the same. If both of them decided to push each other away, it would only damage Kasa further. In the two years he worked with Kasa in anbu, he noticed that she was slowly becoming a shell of her former self. He had to do something before she becomes no different from one of Danzo's Root members.

"Hokage-sama, I would like to request to have Kasa placed within a team," suggested Kakashi during the next briefing on Kasa's evaluations.

"Is there a problem?" asked Hiruzen, a tinge of worry in his voice.

"She's doing fine, but I don't think she would be if things continue as they are," replied Kakashi. "While in Konoha, she had her father, Kushina-san and Naruto to keep her grounded. She doesn't have them out on the field. I'm her commander, there are certain lines that I cannot cross without upsetting the balance of our operations."

"I was afraid that this would happen," sighed Hiruzen with a breath of smoke. "Do you have anyone in mind?"

"Tenzo would be a good candidate," answered Kakashi. "She's familiar with him and he's already well-established in the field."

"And he's quite fond of her as well," noted Hiruzen with a sagely nod. "And the other?"

"I haven't gotten a chance to look through the recent roster yet," admitted Kakashi regrettably. "Preferably it should be someone with experience and capable of handling themselves, but due to the need of bolstering the Crimson Terror's reputation, she'll be on shaky grounds with the veteran ranks."

"Then we will just have to choose one of the new recruits then," noted the man.

"Hokage-sama, that's risky," argued Kakashi.

"Hmm," hummed Hiruzen as he puffed his pipe. "You said you haven't seen the new roster yet right?"

"Yes sir," said Kakashi.

"I think there's someone that could fit the bill. He's a bit young, but he could handle himself quite well for his age and he also has the benefit of knowing Kasa for quite some time already," murmured Hiruzen as he reached into his drawer and pulled out a scroll. "Take a look and see if he would work. If not, we'll decide on another person."

Kakashi's brows furrowed as he caught the unmarked scroll. Anbu in general didn't have their information on file in case of spy infiltration and information leakage. When he cracked it open, his eyes lightened in recognition at the name and face. Itachi Uchiha, one of Kasa's many former teammates. It would make sense for him to still have a file as he was a fairly new chunin like Kasa.

"Well?" asked Hiruzen after a moment. "Would he work?"

"Maybe," murmured Kakashi. "With former teammates it could be a double-edge sword. It could either work very well or turn disastrous."

"I'll allow you to make the decision as you would be leading this team," noted Hiruzen.

"Yes sir," replied Kakashi before he rolled up the scroll and returned it to the man.

He was fairly aware of the Uchiha's heir's aptitude in the field, he doesn't need the scroll as proof. The only concern he had was whether or not the addition of the boy would better or worsen Kasa's condition. With Kasa's current state, he couldn't be sure. Her mind was like glass, tipped precariously over the edge. Anything could possibly set off, but if he did nothing she would crash anyway.

In the end, he decided to take a risk.

"Kakashi's informed me of your performance in the last two years," continued Hiruzen with a soft sigh. "And I believe it's about time that you became a part of an anbu team."

"Is that wise?" asked Kasa with a tinge of worry in her voice. "This ruse we're doing could only work if no one else knows of—"

"Your commander will remain as Kakashi," interrupted Hiruzen before she could protest. "As for your remaining teammates. I don't believe an introduction would needed."

"…Hokage-sama?" confusion was clear in her voice.

"Bear, Wolf, the two of you can come in," said Hiruzen.

Kakashi could see her tense at the names as the two appeared behind her at Hiruzen's summon. It took him a moment to remember that she had conflicted with the previous bearer of the wolf mask. At seeing her discomfort, Hiruzen reassured her of her nerves before she turned to face her two teammates. She said nothing as she stared at the two of them. Did she not recognize them?

Eventually, the moment was broken when Itachi reached out and tapped her forehead. Kasa voiced out uncertainty before a variety of emotions followed. Surprise, annoyance and… happiness? Kakashi blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected such a response from Kasa.

The girl still showed reservations around Tenzo and Itachi for quite some time even after going on multiple missions with the two. No doubt, terrified that Rayne would make an appearance. She did in her usual flair, doing everything Kasa couldn't and wouldn't. Tenzo reacted accordingly to a possible threat, but Itachi on the other hand…

"Why?" asked Itachi as if not registering Rayne's words.

"Well," drawled Rayne in amusement. "One, this pisses her off and two, I rather neither of you try to kill me when I show up. Otherwise I would have to you blow up like these fine gentlemen here."

"Rayne," said Kakashi in a warning, if she ends up driving Itachi and Tenzo away from Kasa, she would only worsen the situation.

"Oh don't worry, I won't blow up anything essential," chirped Rayne, completely ignoring his protests.

Not that he needed to when Itachi suddenly poked on the head, much like what he did to Kasa on several occasions. No…exactly like how he would do it to Kasa.

"Empty threats," declared Itachi before he pulled his hand back. "Quit fooling around and collect the bodies."

"Did you just…" Rayne spluttered out in shock. "DID YOU JUST HEAD POKE ME YOU LITTLE DICKWAD!?"

"Instead of wasting energy on your dramatics, we could go home sooner if you sealed up the bodies," droned Itachi as he turned to leave.

"You! You!" Rayne continued to splutter with indignation as she stomped after the other.

Kakashi stared at the younger boy in surprise as Rayne threw out one threat after another. He didn't see Rayne as a separate entity. He saw her as one and the same as Kasa. When Rayne retreated and Kasa regained her body once more, she laughed, she genuinely laughed. It had been so long since he saw her in such a state.

As time moved on, he noticed the positive effect that Itachi had on Kasa and sometimes even on Rayne. Kasa's split usually remained reclusive after her job's done, but with Itachi around, she stuck around a bit longer as if she enjoyed his company. He was sure if Kasa remained with this current team, she would be able to cope, but unfortunately things didn't work as smoothing as he hoped.

The conflict with Kumo worsen and the team fell into moments of disband as they had to fill in for the short-handed numbers in several squadrons. Itachi and Tenzo had been reassigned to assist attack and defense squadrons while Kasa was assigned to the sabotage squad. He was afraid that she would regress being away from Tenzo and Itachi, but to his surprise, she seemed even happier. Her genin teammates were part of the sabtoge squadron and she was enjoying their company despite the blood and death that followed. He thought she had finally managed to cope and decided to move on.

"I'll be on a mission for an undetermined amount of time. I won't be in contact for that time period," noted Kakashi when they next crossed paths in going to and leaving the hokage's office.

"Classified?" She asked curiously.

"To an extent," nodded Kakashi as he eyed her wondering if she saw any vision about the mission he was to take. The hokage had assigned him an Obito to head off Iwa regarding to some concerns he had over Danzo's secret operations. Again he wondered why the man allowed Danzo to continue with his obvious bouts of treason.

"…Good luck? I guess…" said the girl uncertainly as though she had nothing else to say.

"You can't see much anymore can you?" asked Kakashi when he decided that she saw no visions.

"Not really." She ran a hand through her hair absently.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" continued Kakashi.

"Not sure. I… really don't know what's going to happen right now. There was still a chance for things to go either way," shrugged the girl.

"I see." No news it better than bad news, he supposed.

"Have hope?" offered Kasa sheepishly.

"You seem to have plenty of that nowadays don't you?" grinned Kakashi wryly as he ruffled her hair with fondness. It was good to see her happy. "Your hair's starting to get long."

"Yeah, was thinking about cutting it again, it's a pain to get the blood out, even after washing it there are still some left that clumps up my hair," huffed the girl as she tugged at the tangled mess and glanced up at his hair. "How do you keep your hair so clean anyway?"

"…Of all things you can ask me, you ask for beauty tips?" said Kakashi with a raised brow.

"What else should I ask? Your sex life with Anko?" snorted the girl.

"And here I thought you've finally given up on sullying my reputation," sighed Kakashi, trust the girl to go back to uncomfortable topics at a whim. Three years and the girl still brought that one incident up.

"Anko's technically 18 now, so it really shouldn't be a problem," chirped Kasa cheerily.

"Stop trying to play match maker," sighed Kakashi as he pressed a firm hand over her head, much to her annoyance.

"All my hard work in making sure you don't get blue balls and this is what I get?" Kasa huffed as she got out of his hold.

"…I'm not going to dignify that with a response," said Kakashi bluntly with distaste.

"Aw, never saw you as a prude before," grinned the girl cheekily.

"While I'm quite sure your kunoichi classes cover quite a bit in that particular subject, I really question where you get these colloquial terms," muttered Kakashi and shook his head. "Anyway, behave yourself and be careful."

"Yes, mother," chimed the girl much like a child.

At first he thought it was merely a nickname she decided to give him out of annoyance, but the more he thought about it, Kasa did seem to treat him with the same regards of her own father. Not uncommon he supposed as he acted the same with Minato sensei when he was still alive. Maybe it was just the closeness between a superior and his subordinate.

He hadn't thought much of it after when he left for the mission to Iwa with Obito. It was meant to be a simple scouting mission. One that probably shouldn't have needed his or Obito's skill level, but Konoha was already at war with Kumo and barely resolved the conflict with Kiri. They didn't need another village to take up arms against them because their scouts were careless and spotted.

Much to his surprise, he and Obito came across a conflict of two seemingly Iwa shinobi. However, Obito interfered before it escalated to bloodshed.

"Obito what are you—" Kakashi began to protest, but paused when he spotted the familiar face of Kabuto, the boy Kasa encountered outside of the hospital all those years ago. Around his head sported the Iwa hitai-ate, but Obito hadn't tried to kill him. A Konoha plant in Iwa?

"Obito-san," said the ash-grey haired young man in surprise.

"You don't want to kill this one kid," said Obito in a tone that Kakashi only heard once before.

"You're…" Kakashi trailed off when the other shot him a glance.

"If I don't kill her, she's going to—" protested Kabuto but trailed off when he recognized the face of the woman Obito restrained. "…Mother?"

"Who are you?" snarled the woman as she fought against Obito's hold before he knocked her out.

Kakashi frowned and glanced towards the woman. He recognized her as the nun that took him away after Kasa had crashed into him. Why would she claim she didn't know him?

"…Who am…I? Why would she…" Kabuto croaked out, but Kakashi placed a hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Something's wrong with her," murmured Obito as he slung her over his shoulder. "We can't waste time here, there are patrols in this area."

"Obito-san," said Kabuto as he turned to him for direction.

"Finish your mission and head back to Konoha. Leave your mother to me," replied Obito.

"…Okay," said Kabuto with much reluctance before he took off. Though it was obvious he wanted to stay.

Before he could ask, Obito grabbed onto his arm and dragged him into that strange place once more.

"I know you have questions, but they're not ones I can answer right now," explained Obito's split as he laid Kabuto's mother on the ground. The tomoe on his sharingan began to spin as he lifted her eyes open. "Just think of this as one less headache in the future."

One less headache… in the future? Kakashi's eye narrowed as he watched Obito's split perform some sort of genjutsu on the woman. It didn't take long as he turned his attention back to him within seconds and the redness of the sharingan died off. There was no way that Obito could see visions of the future and it was unlikely that Kasa would every share such information about the future with him, but this claim… No, there was someone that would share this information.

Rayne. Obito's split happened when he was under those boulders. He was the first person Kasa met and there was a likely chance that Rayne had existed then too and spoke with Obito's split during the moments when Kasa was asleep. The auburn-haired girl wouldn't have been the wiser and Rayne would've ensured that Kasa would have the protection from Obito.

His mind dug deeper into his memories and he vaguely recalled a strange look Obito had given him before he took Kasa to see the hokage after the Kumo incident. He had taken it as Obito telling him to protect Kasa while they were under the scrutiny of the hokage… but that might've been the split rather than his teammate.

"You've met Rayne haven't you?" asked Kakashi.

"You were always the smart one," sighed the other before he turned his gaze to him. "Since she told you her name, I supposed I'll give you mine. The name's Tobi… though, I supposed Kasa was the one that picked it."

…She knew of Obito's split. No wonder they were so close. They shared so many similarities but…

"You seem to be able to take over Obito's body much more easily than Rayne could with Kasa's," noted Kakashi. "Why is that? And is Obito still aware of what's going on?"

"He's cursing obscenities at the moment," commented Tobi. "As for difficult in control… let's just say Kasa's mind is much more dangerous than Obito's. I wouldn't recommend venturing into it without a skilled Yamanaka by your side or Rayne's favor."

"And why is that?" asked Kakashi.

"Why indeed," murmured Tobi with a faint grimace before the woman started to wake. "No time to waste, she's waking up."

With that, Tobi took them out of that weird space and returned control to Obito.

"You better run!" snapped Obito when he took control again before he turned to Kakashi. "The mission's a bust, he suggested we head back to Konoha and not report this."

"Not report—what?" snapped Kakashi. "Tell him to come back out. I want to talk to him."

"He's not talking anymore," growled Obito. "Oi! Come out asshole!"

"…You do know you're just calling yourself an asshole right?" commented Kakashi dryly.

"Oi! If you don't come out, we're going to report this to the hokage," huffed Obito as he ignored Kakashi's words.

"…Reporting you have a split personality that told you not to report this is definitely going to make you look sane," said Kakashi before he sighed.

Tobi was definitely the more mature one of the two and a whole lot more sensible too. If he had a reason to ask for them to not report it… he was slightly more inclined to believe him as Rayne seemed to trust him with this information.

"Then what do you suppose we do?" asked Obito.

"Report this as inconclusive for now, if something comes up we'll give the hokage a full briefing," said Kakashi.

"Are you sure?" asked Obito in surprise. "It's not like you to go against protocols."

"Hokage-sama's not going to do anything about this," reasoned Kakashi. "Telling him will only tip off Danzo. Until we find some way to take him out of power. Let's not give him any more information to work with."

"Wow…" said Obito. "You've really changed haven't you?"

"Is that bad?" asked Kakashi with a drone.

"Nope! I think I like this version of you more," grinned Obito before they decided to head back.

* * *

When they returned to Konoha, Obito insisted it was pointless for both of them to make the report and promptly dumped the responsibility on him in favor of visiting Rin. Kakashi couldn't fault him as it did seem like they grew closer while he was busy with Kasa's anbu training and reputation building. At least he didn't have to worry about…

"…Kasa?" started Kakashi when he spotted the girl coming from the anbu office, his eye widened at the dried blood all over her clothes. "What… happened?"

"Heh, guess what Kakashi," said Kasa with a wide smile over her face, but none of it reached her dulled blue eyes. "I've finally managed to kill without Rayne's help anymore!"

"Kasa…" murmured Kakashi as he fought back a grimace. What happened while he was gone? She was getting better and now…

"And it only took Santa and Tokuma's deaths! Isn't it great?" chirped the girl cheerily despite the horrible news she just delivered. "Think of all the missions I could do now! I—"

Kakashi pulled her into a tight hug before she could finish. "Stop…."

"What's the matter Kakashi? I'm fine," said the girl, her body trembled as if it wanted to cry, but she didn't.

"Just stop…" whispered Kakashi. He shouldn't have left her alone. "You don't have to keep up this mask anymore."

"…I don't think I want to drop it anymore…" murmured the girl as she slumped boneless against him.

"Kasa?" asked Kakashi as he caught her body.

"She's just tired from the lack of sleep and non-stop travel back to Konoha," muttered Rayne as she took over and glanced up from where Kasa's body slumped. She looked as exhausted as she sounded. "Do me a favor and carry her home. I'm in no mood to talk to her family and her body really needs the rest."

"…Will she be okay?" asked Kakashi as he adjusted his hold and pulled her onto his back.

"What do you think?" scoffed Rayne as she wrapped her arms over his shoulder and dropped her head down.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Kakashi knew he could ask Rayne what happened, but there was point in doing so. It didn't matter how it happened, just that it did. Losing a teammate was never easy. He had briefly felt that gut wrenching wave of emotions when he thought Obito died and again when Minato sensei died. It felt like a part of him died with them.

If that was how he felt, he couldn't imagine what Kasa was going through. Her constitution was considerably weaker than the average shinobi. That was why she needed Rayne to do most of her killings in the first place.

"…You owe the idiot your happiness," murmured Rayne quietly.

"My happiness?" repeated Kakashi with a confused frown.

"You only have what you have now because she took the misery in your place," said Rayne.

Her words made no sense to him whatsoever. Her voice sounded tired, almost as if she was drifting in and out of consciousness. Didn't she say she had an easier time taking control of Kasa's body when she's out? Why could she barely keep conscious even though she exerted no energy through Kasa's exhausted body?

"… Kasa hasn't realized it yet, but the future isn't so easily changed," mumbled Rayne. "Any supposed changes she made was only on the surface. Events would still occur as would death, the only difference would be in the players."

"What do you mean?" asked Kakashi as he tried to glance back at Rayne. He could see her with the angle he carried her in, but it almost sounded like Rayne was in some sort of trance.

"An eye for an eye, a death for a death. If she saves someone, someone else had to die in that person's place. Dependent on how important said person is, the more deaths would occur in exchange," murmured Rayne.

"How could you be so sure of this?" asked Kakashi.

"I'm not, but… it's hard to ignore the repeating patterns of death and events," snorted Rayne humorlessly.

"What patterns?" asked Kakashi.

"Most of them aren't obvious unless you know what the original future was and where to look," mumbled Rayne. "If the idiot didn't seal off most of her access those visions, she would've noticed them too."

"And what would she have noticed?" asked Kakashi with a frown.

"The exchanges in death and events… A prime example would be Rin's situation where she fell by your chidori and never made it back to Konoha." Kakashi froze at those words. "Her death leads to a future where Konoha is unscathed by the three-tail's attack and the conflict with Kiri never occurs, but as you can see she survives because of Obito and in exchange the civilians become cannon fodder and Konoha suffers a minor bout of destruction. Wouldn't you say Rin's quite valuable?"

"You can't possibly fault Rin's survival to be the cause of—" Kakashi didn't finish as the other continued.

"As if I give a damn," scoffed Rayne. "Most Konoha civilians are faceless numbers in the visions. The value of their life is nothing more than number of a death toll count… but to Kasa that's not the case… She sees every loss as her fault, one that she could've prevented. Just as the same as the losses in the conflict with Kumo. Had she not told you to stop the delegate's attempt in kidnapping the Hyuga child, this war wouldn't even exist."

"But I was the one who stopped—" started Kakashi.

"If you think you would've been able to stop that from happening without her warning, you're an idiot," snorted Rayne. "Any changes that occur is instigated by the idiot, therefore any equivalent payment is taken from her for interfering with the flow of events."

"…What do you mean?" asked Kakashi.

"Gashira's survival meant a war was to happen between Kumo and Konoha," replied Rayne. "Hizashi Hyuga, who was supposed to die in Hisashi's place as reparation to Kumo was replaced by Tokuma, a Hyuga for a Hyuga."

"How is that even a fair trade?" grounded out Kakashi.

"A potential future loss in payment for a new future gained," reasoned Rayne. "Fairness isn't judged by a person, it's judged by their value in the coming future."

"That doesn't explain why Santa died too," argued Kakashi.

"Kurei Yuhi didn't appear in any of the visions beyond the night of the Kyubi attack," said Rayne bluntly.

"You can't be serious! That was years ago!" protested Kakashi.

"I thought so too, but as I've said, fairness isn't judged by a person. There wasn't a suitable payment at the time and it waited until there was," murmured Rayne. "These exchanges aren't always immediate. She's likely still paying for Obito's early return."

"…Early?" repeated Kakashi as a cold chill went through him.

"He wasn't dead under those boulders you know," murmured Rayne. "He would've eventually gotten out and made his way back to Konoha… but it wouldn't have been the same if Rin wasn't there right?"

Kakashi paled at her words and thought back to Tobi. It was possible that he could have gotten out with that strange technique he used, but with the injuries he sustained, getting back to Konoha and during a war would be near impossible. It would take weeks if not months to get back from the border at such a snail's pace while avoiding detection. Obito wouldn't have made it back in time to save Rin even with his help.

"…Without Rin, Obito…" murmured Kakashi.

"Among other things," murmured Rayne, her voice growing more tired as she continued. "You'd be surprise how grief she saved you."

"…How much?" asked Kakashi.

"I said before, you owe your happiness to the idiot," said Rayne breathily as if she was about to fall asleep any moment.

"How much did she change?" repeated Kakashi.

"Are you sure you want to know?" asked Rayne. "You've become quite different from the future we've seen."

Different? It was obvious that Rayne wanted to tell him, but to give him a chance to back out? Kakashi thought she might've been baiting for some sort of ruse, but from his previous experience with her, despite Rayne's abrasive personality and harsh words, she still shared a measurable amount of Kasa's personality. She said he owed his happiness to Kasa, but was it a warning to him that he wouldn't like the truth of what could've been his future? If so… How much did Kasa exchange in order for him to have this?

"Tell me," decided Kakashi, he needed to know.

Silence fell between the two of them before Rayne finally spoke up.

"… In your original future, Team Minato never shared the reunion you all had with Obito. Rin would've died by your chidori and Kushina would've died along with Minato. Naruto would've been left a hated orphan that knew nothing of his parents or why the villagers hated him. And Obito…" She trailed off briefly before continuing. "You, in your grief of losing everyone you loved and cared about, became a shadow of yourself as you threw your life into anbu missions. You would've likely continued on until you've died if not for Gai."

"Gai?" repeated Kakashi and scrunched his nose. He barely ever talked to the other jounin. More often than not, the man would claim him as his eternal rival and randomly challenge him to some sort of contest, but that was more of a minor annoyance than anything else.

"As repulsive as the man could be at times, his heart is in the right place," noted Rayne.

Kakashi raised a brow in surprise. It was rare for Rayne to give praises to anyone.

"You would eventually take on a genin team of your own, but inadvertently turn them into a twisted replication of your own team and watch as they crash in very much the same manner as your team have."

"I see…" murmured Kakashi. With how Rayne spoke of his future, it did seem to run parallel to what Kasa was going through now, but if that's the case, then Kasa was in for a great deal more of pain.

"Do you?" asked Rayne. "How much longer do you think she could endure?"

"…You have a request," noted Kakashi as he finally concluded why she would tell him all this.

"That idiot would never ask for your thanks or even payment for enduring what was meant for you," murmured Rayne. "She… never took value in her own life."

Kakashi felt there was something more behind those words. Rayne knew everything there was to know about Kasa. She did whatever she could to keep the girl safe, but it didn't feel right for him to pry into personal secrets that the younger girl didn't want to share.

"…What do you want me to do?" asked Kakashi instead. He might not know everything there was to Rayne or Kasa, but he owe them both just as much for what they're done.

Rayne's hand clenched into a fist around his shirt as if she was scared. Scared? Why would she be scared? Kasa's other half never showed such weaknesses before.

"…I won't be able to take over for the killings much longer. She won't let me," murmured Rayne. "But she won't be able to handle those deaths by her own hands. If she shuts me out, she won't last and I'm afraid… I'm so afraid that she might…"

She didn't need to finish for Kakashi to know what she meant. If Kasa was to be pushed completely over the edge, she might actually do something that would end both her and Rayne's existence. Rayne, who never once showed fear, was terrified. She truly thought that Kasa would kill herself and take her along to death.

"…Don't worry," assured Kakashi quietly. "I'll get her out of anbu."

"Then what?" asked Rayne.

"I'll handle it," murmured Kakashi. "I won't let her disappear. It's the least I could do."

Rayne said nothing and he felt her grip on his shirt loosen before she fell completely limp on his back. He debated about taking her back to Kushina, but thought better of it and went for the Uchiha district instead. Kushina's brand of coddling and anger wasn't something Kasa needed now. With the Uchiha matriarch, he knew she would be furious, but she at least would restrain herself while in Kasa's presence. There was also the matter that if Rayne was to take control for whatever reason, Itachi would be there to handle her.

He needed to talk to the hokage about the matter and it wouldn't do if Kushina killed him before he could do so. With that in mind, he dropped off Kasa at the Uchihas and went off to speak with Hiruzen.

"Kakashi," greeted Hiruzen as he stepped in.

"Hokage-sama, before I give the report, I would like to make a request," said Kakashi.

"What sort?" Hiruzen's brows furrowed as he turned his full attention to him.

It wasn't like him to demand anything from him and especially not before giving a full mission report. Kakashi knew the man was aware at how odd this was, but he didn't care. He owed it to Kasa to do at least this much.

"…Please reassign Kasa and take her out of anbu," requested Kakashi as Hiruzen's brows turned from furrowed to raised.

"What happened?" asked Hiruzen as his forehead wrinkled and his voice turned grave.

It's about time he returned some of that happiness to her.

 


	4. Rayne's Mercy (雨の慈悲)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayne's recap from Chunin exams to the end of Chapter 83

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes: 24 Pages, 17,849 words. Thanks Just Akuya for proofing this monster. Like all interludes, they're recaps in another character's POV. It also signifies the end of an arc. Those who hate interludes, skip ahead. Those who wants to know Rayne's story, read on. If you do, please read the author's note at the bottom before you go. Happy readings!

 

I had no expectation for a life beyond death. The thought never even crossed my mind. All I wanted was to end this mundane existence where nothing ever happens.

There were no grand stories of epic proportions, no dark secrets or repressed past. Everything was… normal. My family, my education, my job, all  _absolutely_  tediously normal. There weren't even any expectations to live up to. Heck, compared to some other people, I was actually quite well off. A steady job, a roof over my head and fairly good health. What more could I ask for?

Yet… that was the problem. The world was dull and lifeless, an average person like me would never amount to anything beyond another number in a sea of people. The chance for excitement, the chance to be important. Such thoughts invaded my mind daily, to the point that it drove me mad. I had no reason to whine, to bitch! I  _loathed_ myself for it.

Obsessive fandom binging became a means of distraction, but it hardly helped. If anything, it worsened the situation by reminding me of my mundane and dull life. I tell myself to suck it up, to get over it, but I couldn't. Day by day it festered and festered until it drove me utterly mad then finally…

"Hey—what are you—stop!" shouted a stranger from afar.

Without a second thought, I leapt from the platform and into the path of the incoming train. I could remember the pain of the impact, the pain of hitting the tracks and the pain of my limbs caught in the wheels as the train halted with a deafening screech. I remembered screaming as the last of my breath left my lungs. I remembered my body going into shock from the pain and blood loss.

What I couldn't remember was when it all stopped. I couldn't remember when the silence started nor when the world around me turned to darkness. All I knew when I opened my eyes was a door ensnared in vines before me and nothing else. The pain from the death was long gone, and I was left at a loss of my surroundings.

_"I know my next words won't mean much to anyone, and it may sound silly... From this day on, I will live my life to how I see fit. Regardless what obstacles or misery may fall my way, I will do my best to preserve,"_ said a voice with the timbre of a little girl.

She spoke not in English, but nonetheless I recognized the language. How could I not when most of the fandoms I've binged on spoke this very language? Under normal circumstances, such recognition shouldn't be odd, but then I found I could understand her clearly despite only knowing a handful of words.

Curious, I stepped closer to the door for a better listen, but as I reached out and touched the cool surface, the vines fell away, and the door opened, and a blinding light assaulted my eyes. Most peculiar, a serene forest area replaced the darkness and I found myself spectating through someone else's eyes with no control whatsoever.

At the sight of the familiar ugly open-toed sandals and hitai-ate, I wondered if this was punishment for killing myself. Nothing against LARPers in general, but more often than not, I feel more embarrassed on their behalf than anything else. Though, I have to say, the ages between the LARPers seemed suspiciously accurate for the roles they played, and none of them seemed to have issues in adlibbing conversations.

However, as I listened to the girl, Kasa, jabbering away, I slowly realized that this wasn't a LARP session. Rather, it seemed like I stumbled onto someone else's self-fulfillment fantasy… What bullshit.

As a child, I might've found this interesting, but as I am now, not so much. It mattered little what reality I was in. For one thing, I couldn't give a single shit about it. Call me selfish, call me heartless, I don't give a damn. There was a reason I ended my life. Living and existing was too exhausting even if I once desired excitement.

"…Why couldn't I have stayed dead and let this be over with?" I grumbled as the girl's life unfolded before me.

Bit by bit, through traversing the strange forest-like hospital in the girl's mind I learned more about this Kasa and the world she lived in. The form I took during the traversal was not of my own. It was too small and child-like. Out of irritation, I marked up the door I came through with the words "Already dead" in blood red with the red flowers that grew on the vines… Don't ask me how this shit works, it just does.

I hated every moment of this. Why? Shall I start listing? She has the lineage of a scattered, but exemplary clan. A mother who fought and died for her. A father with a mysterious connection to one of the most dangerous group of missing-nins. Hell, she even has half of Isobu's chakra.

Everything about this girl screamed protagonist, and it was aggravating to watch her bemoaned her misfortunes when it was obvious the idiot enjoyed the limelight and excitement it brought. Even so, she gave off an alarming sense of familiarity.

At first, I thought it was happenchance that I understood all the seemingly random references she made, but I proved myself wrong when I came across the various vine-ensnared doors and it opened to a roomful of familiar faces.

"Surprise!" shouted the cheery party-goers.

And a surprise it was when I recognized it as a memory of my own. I stood stunned at the smile on my younger self as she happily joined the festivities. I couldn't remember when the last time I smiled like that… but it seemed that this Kasa kept track of most of them as nearly all the vine-ensnared doors each held one of my happy memories.

Why does she have my memories? Most of them were incomplete and a number of them were of the various fandoms I clung onto in my attempts to distract myself from the maddening thoughts. I briefly toyed with the idea that this girl might be some strange twisted version of myself, but that wasn't right either. Most notably she had my childish pettiness and grudge-holding, but everything else?

It didn't fit. She was far too optimistic, almost as though she derived her personality from the mishmash of happy memories. I found myself delving deeper into the strange corridors of her mind in an attempt to figure out this mystery. What I found… was… hard to explain.

While Kasa had snippets of my memories, she was still very much a child. A child that has no awareness that she wasn't an adult in a child's body. Poor naïve little idiot.

"…Are you going to be sick?" asked Tokuma quietly after the end of the first part of their chunin exam.

"…Dragging me to the closest restroom might be wise. I think I have a mild case of food poisoning," replied Kasa hoarsely before they escorted her to the closest bathroom and ejected everything from her stomach.

If I cared a bit more, I might've felt sympathetic to her plight… but I didn't. Honestly, I found her frying someone's balls over and over again quite hilarious. If she was in his position, I doubt he would give her a second thought before he tortured her senseless. Even so, her teammates were sickeningly sweet with how protective they acted.

Well, most of them. The two Uchihas were dicks though, but then again who in that clan wasn't one? Itachi may have given Kasa an umeboshi to help with her nausea, but he also suggested for her to take part in the finals just to get rid of her for the second exam. Some may argue he was trying to protect her, but I think he was just trying to get rid of a field liability. With how squeamish Kasa acted, I couldn't blame him. It still doesn't make him any less of a dick though.

As for Shisui… that boy was all around strange. Anyone who smiled that much shouldn't be trusted. Something about his mannerisms seemed off, unnatural even. Maybe I'm paranoid. He did die for Itachi in the end after all…It's probably nothing worry about.

On the other hand, I have no clue how to take Kabuto. As far as I was aware, there shouldn't be any major changes to his role. His connection to Orochimaru probably started by now if he was in espionage Root work. Not much could be done since Kasa rarely interacts with him. Beyond the first crash meeting and this second explosive one that nearly burned off his face, he couldn't even be counted as an acquaintance. If anything, he was more of an unfortunate bystander whenever Kasa's involved.

Speaking of Kasa… I have a sinking suspicion about her irrational fear of cats, it might've stemmed from the incident I had as a toddler with a stray. Playing in the yard, minding my own business and suddenly a stray cat makes its way across the fence and pounces into the yard. I clearly recall my younger self jumping in surprise and backing away to the door when it approached.

The door, of course, was locked and no one could be seen through the glass panels. As a toddler faced with the imminent threat of a wild animal with nowhere run, I wailed and screamed as I pounded the door. Thinking back as an adult now, it was rather hilarious, but I supposed for Kasa as a child, the memory must've been terrifying and traumatic.

Even so, I can't entirely blame her excessive bawling and whining when Kurei sensei decided to use cats to train up her killing intent.

"B-but…" wailed the girl, her knees shook as she clung to her deck of cards. "Why do I have to have a cat strapped to me?"

Again, if I wasn't so amused, I might've felt bad for her. Keyword:  _might've_. Her struggle was beyond hilarious to watch and with my current predicament, I had to take entertainment wherever I could. Kasa ended up naming the cat, Akuma, in memory of the hellish training and torment the demon placed her through the month before the chunin exam's final.

The demon cat training did contribute an enormous growth to her scare tactics; unfortunately, it did little to keep her unscathed.

"If you don't give up, I'll not only kill you, I'll—" Kasa never finished her words as Yugito's claw-like hand thrust through her shields in a fit of terror.

Despite not having a body of my own, I still felt a chill as the claw punctured through Kasa's chest. Why was I feeling this? This wasn't my body. The chill worsened when she continued to the next fight with Utakata. I couldn't even enjoy the absurdity of a battle between explosive bubbles and cows. All I could focus on was how cold and dark everything turned.

When Utakata managed to cut away at the obi that kept the puncture wounds bounded, Kasa's vision shifted as blood-loss kicked in. I couldn't do anything as Kasa feebly tried to forfeit, but the other jinchuriki wouldn't allow it. He drove a senbon into her neck and cut off the flow of chakra in her body. The world turned dark and I found myself standing in the strange forest-like hospital mindscape once more. To my surprise, I wasn't alone. A young man, donned with a fox mask, stood before me in what seemed like an anbu uniform.

"So you can traverse through your own mind," mused the man with a hum. "Interesting."

"And you can make yourself look like a grade-A villain." I retorted dryly.

"What?" snapped the stranger in disbelief. "I am  _so_ not a villain!"

"Says the person invading an innocent little girl's mind." I scoffed and crossed my arms.

"You're hardly innocent," countered the man irritably.

"I really don't care." I droned with disinterest.

"You're dying," said the man seriously as he looked down on me.

"About time." I snorted.

"What?" said the other with confusion. "But you're… dying."

"Do you know how exhausting it is to bear through this bullshit?" I whispered with a near hiss. "Death would be welcome at this point."

"Never pegged you as the suicidal sort," commented the masked man offhandedly.

"I wouldn't peg you either." I returned snidely. "So there."

"You never even met me, how would you be able to peg anything?" asked the other in confusion.

It took a moment for his words to sink in before I realized the intended vulgar joke completely went over his head. He was either the sort of villain that liked to pretend to be stupid… or he really was that stupid. Neither of which I wanted to deal with as both were annoying as fuck.

"If you're going to kill me, just do so already. I rather not sit through an endless monologue before dying."

"…But killing you would be a waste," noted the man as he squatted down to my eye level. "Wouldn't you rather do something more productive?"

"Pass." I drawled with a wave of my hand. "Being either a hero or a villain takes too much work and effort."

"Aren't you just being lazy?" hummed the other as he rested his elbows on his legs and his chin on his open palms. "True, it takes a lot of hard work, but don't you think it would be more rewarding that way?"

"You're preaching to the wrong person." I retorted. "Stop wasting my time and just kill me already."

"Hmm…" The man tilted his head, and I spotted the single red sharingan visible through the eye opening in the fox mask. "You just need a little motivation."

"Motivation?" I repeated, but the thought didn't go beyond that as a sharp pain went through my chest. I pressed a hand over it as I kneeled over with a pained wheeze.

"Ah crap," sighed the man in irritation as he looked up to the nonexistent ceiling in the mindscape. "Why couldn't they just wait a bit longer?"

"W-what's going on?" I rasped out in agony as I glared at him.

"Hey, it's not my fault!" said the stranger with his hands up in a surrendering pose. "I'm trying to save you and convince you to live. They're the ones who wants you dead."

"What?" I wheezed, hand clutched at my chest.

"Damn it," said the man in a panic. As his form began to fade, he reached out to grab my shoulders. "Hey, don't you dare die on me! You're going to ruin my hero record!"

"Don't touch me." I snarled as I slapped his hand away.

"Geez," sighed the man as he stood to his full height and propped a hand to his hip. "I really didn't want to do this, but… this is for your own good."

What happened next was an endless blur of pain and rage. My lungs burned. My chest ached. It felt as though Kasa's wounds were of my own. A blood-curling scream ripped from my throat before I realized that I was no longer a spectator and the pain was definitely real.

I had control of her body… I had control of her body!

"What's happening? What's that on her?" A muffled voice came through briefly, it sounded like I was underwater.

Through the red haze, I could tell the hazy shadows were wary and defensive. Not good, they might attack. I had to get up! Clumsily, I fought through the pain and struggled to get off the ground. My head felt like it was stuffed with cotton and my limbs… I fought back another scream when I felt something ensnare them and dragged me to my feet.

"Dead…" I rasped out as I recalled what the stranger said before I was thrust out from Kasa's mindscape. They want me dead do they? Well, I can play that game too. "You're all dead!"

Instinct and muscle memory took over as a barrage of wooden dogs came at me. Somehow I managed to hold my own despite having no training or experience when it came to fighting. The whole exchange was done purely through Kasa's trained muscle memory. If she disregarded her reservations, she could become quite a formidable fighter.

"Die! Die! Die!" I roared as my hands sped through a number of hand seals and sent a wave of demonic chakra to overpower the wooden dogs that frantically tried to devour every ounce that crossed its path.

With them distracted, I quickly moved onto the fire dragon dance that Kasa long mastered in the past month. The dance's namesake came to life and dove for the fleeing figures in front of me. I couldn't hear what they screamed about, but it didn't matter. Their luck could only last so long before the flames devoured them whole.

Just as the dragon descended to take out one of the figures, a blade, made from wind, sliced through and dispersed its fiery form. I gritted my teeth as I drew up my arms to defend against the wind pressure. However, in doing so, I created an opening for them to launch their assault. I hissed at the contact as I hastily jumped back to dodge the next attack. The man continued to charge forward, and I retaliated with a roundhouse kick.

My foot never connected, but somehow he still ended up crashing into the wall. If I had more time, I might ponder what happened, but with so many people around, I couldn't let my attention waver. With renewed vigor, I drew up another dragon through dance and resumed my assault. However, the results were less effective than before as the wind blade returned and sliced away at the dragon.

Once the dragon was sliced down, I switched tactics and on to another dance. The moment it took effect, a raging whirlwind started. I could feel the distinct vibrations of each figure crashing into the surrounding walls. I got them. I GOT THEM!

"Die!" I roared as I approached the figure with the wooden dogs surrounding him.

"Kasa!" snapped a voice through what sounded like a sea of water and I suddenly felt my wrist restrained in a larger hand.

No! I refuse to go down this way! With another roar, I swung my leg up to kick him, but the stranger intercepted and caught my ankle with ease. They won't have their way!

"She's mine." A snarl escaped from my lips, but those were not my words. Without a warning, I suddenly lost control of Kasa's body, and a resounding crack told me an arm broke in the process.

"…break…" A single word came through the garble of noise.

"No!" I screamed in anger as the pain set in.

"…get out!" commanded the voice once more.

"O-obi—" My lips moved against my own volition once more, but this time it was Kasa who spoke and the cloud of red rage suddenly faded and the sounds returned.

"That's right, you can do it," said Obito's encouraging voice as his concerned face finally came into view.

Concerned? Why was he concerned?

"F-five… point…" I found Kasa rasp out through my—no, her lips and I felt my control over her body violent ripped away.

"Kasa!" shouted Obito, but the response he got was not from the auburn-haired girl I resided in.

"You may keep her for the time being, but she'll be mine," growled the voice before it relinquished control at last. I didn't even get a moment of reprieve. The moment Kasa finished her seal, I was completely torn away from the physical world.

When I regained my senses, I found myself faced with the darkness with the vine-ensnared door behind my back. The pain was gone, but I was completely cutoff from Kasa. I couldn't hear, I couldn't see. There was nothing but darkness. I never thought I would ever find it scary… but I did.

Panic slowly crept in and I found myself clawing at the door, hoping it would open back up to Kasa's mindscape. Except, this time it wouldn't budge. No matter how I tore at the vines or how I pounded at the door, it wouldn't open. I even went as far as kicking and body slamming the damn thing, but to no avail, it wouldn't open. With a dejected sigh, I rested my back against the door and slid down to the floor.

"So this is how it ends huh?" I grumbled with my head against the door. "That's rather anti—"

My thought was left unfinished when the door suddenly opened and I fell backwards into the corridors of Kasa's mind once more.

"…That was unexpected." I murmured to myself.

"Kasa?" asked what sounded like Obito's voice.

"Good god." I groaned and glanced up to the speaker. He looked like Obito, but not the one that Kasa treated like an older brother. This one wore an Akatsuki uniform with white eyes that resembled cataracts. "Stop fucking with me already! If you're going to kill me, just get it over with!"

"What makes you think I'm doing that?" asked the blind-looking Uchiha.

"Come off it you shitty Tobito cosplayer!" I snapped. "What do you want? Information on major events? Potential threats? If you've gone as far as to ripping a poor imitation of Obito's damn image as Tobi of Akatsuki, you might as well go the rest of the way and be done with it!"

"How—"

"Don't give me that fake naivety! You  _know_  how I know, you little fucker!" I snarled. "And I'm sick and tired of dealing with the bullshit you Uchihas create!"

The fake Tobi stood silent for a moment, his face unreadable. He could be contemplating on whether or not he wanted to kill me, but I was too angry to care. I stayed on the ground where I laid and glared up at him with a scowl.

"Kill me, I dare you!" I snarled.

"…Are you stupid?" asked the Uchiha with a sigh. "Or has the time jump and new body screwed with your perception of life and death, Naruto?"

"Naruto?" I repeated in confusion.

"Even with all those memories, you can't remember who you are can you?" continued the man.

"…Say what now?" I returned with a frown and the other sighed in irritation as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"When I dragged you," started the man, but paused for a moment to gather his thought as though uncertain to how to continue. "Have you ever wondered why you trusted Kushina so easily? Or even Kakashi and Minato sensei even though you barely even knew them when you first met them?"

"…You're kidding right?" I replied in a deadpan.

"In another life, in another time you were Naruto," said the man. "Kushina was your mother, Minato sensei was your father and Kakashi—"

"Pf, you think I'm—hahaha!" I snorted before a slapped a hand over my eyes and a fit of uncontrollable laughter overcame me.

"I know it's hard to take it all in but—" started the other, but I cut him off before he could finish.

"I'm not even Kasa, what makes you think I'm Naruto?" I drawled in amusement. "I have no interest in becoming a hokage, no interest in saving Sasuke or any of the damn Uchihas and definitely no interest in whatever bullshit time-travel/cross-dimension nonsense that you're obviously in."

"Naru—" I cut him off again in mid-exasperation.

"Unlike you and whatever you did to the blond idiot, I actually ended up here by  _killing_  myself." I hissed. "So get it through your thick head that I'm  _not_ Naruto."

"…Then who are you?" asked the supposed future Obito.

"Who am I?" I drawled in amusement, unable to help myself. "One name you might have for me is the World, or you might call me the Universe, or perhaps God, or perhaps the Truth. I am all and I am one."

"What?" said the other in confusion.

"It means nothing, dipshit." I retorted dryly. "I'm just spouting random nonsense."

"How do you know about me being Tobi or the Akatsuki," said the disgruntled Uchiha.

"I can see the future." I droned with a mock ghostly voice.

"Hilarious," retorted the Uchiha dryly.

"Don't you know oracles are suicide-prone?" I drawled and continued to throw out random bullshit off the top of my head. "Death is sweet mercy compared to the maddening barrage of visions."

"Is that what will eventually happen to Kasa?" The lack of suspicion in his voice pissed me off.

"For the love of—What is wrong with you?" I snapped out of frustration as I jumped to my feet and turned to him. "Can't you tell everything coming out of my mouth is a fucking lie? I'm not an oracle and neither is Kasa! Hell, you assholes aren't even real people! You're a fictional creation made for entertaining children and otakus!"

"You're not in a genjutsu, I'm not fake," said the other seriously.

"I give up!" I threw up my hands in the air in defeat.

"You already surrendered the moment you first spoke to me," commented Tobi dryly, he was too much of an asshole to be viewed as the Obito Kasa knew.

"Why am I being antagonized by a fake?" I screamed in frustration.

"If I'm a fake, why are you bothered by it?" He scoffed and crossed his arms.

"You know what?" I growled." Screw you and fuck off. Get the fuck out!"

"And how do you propose to—" He never finished as the vines on the nearby doors came to life and lashed out at him violently. "What on earth?"

To my utter surprise, I remained unscathed by the attacking vines. Unlike Tobi, who seemed to have attracted the vine's ire, the vines seemed almost protective of me. He tried to linger for as long as he could, but under the assault, he had no choice but to retreat.

Once gone, the vines brushed against me almost affectionately as it slithered about on the ground. Curiously, I reached out a hand, and it rose to my command.

…Interesting.

* * *

What followed next was a whirlwind of nonsense. Kasa and the present Obito stupidly decided to prank the entire stadium while pretending she's some sort of deranged zombie our for revenge. All the while the rest of them were going through various levels of "Oh shit! Kasa's not dead."

Kasa seemed to have talked herself into an existential crisis after having died… again. Seriously, at this rate she'd give Goku and Superman a run for their money with how often she dies. Was it too much to ask just to stay dead?

Eventually, life returned to some semblance of normalcy… as normal as life could be for a ninja anyway. After enduring through Kasa's incessant internal bitching, I busied myself with the mastery of the vines if only to escape the ramblings of a pubescent girl that suddenly discovered puberty and hormones.

What I didn't expect was the amount of concern she garnered from her self-induced identity crisis. They even went as far as getting Inoichi to give her a check over. It's moments like these that make me want to smack her. Through the vines, I could feel Inoichi tapping and touching the very doors that held my memories. Annoyed, I flicked my wrist and had the surrounding vines to ensnare him. I meant for it to startle him to back away, but instead he thought it was a subconscious action from the idiot.

"Kasa, focus." Inoichi's voice echo through the mindscape's halls. "Even though you have no chakra of your own anymore, it doesn't mean anything. These sealed memories are only repressed, they won't disappear over time. If you could restrain the chakra from sealing off any more of your chakra, we could unseal the doors and regain your memories."

Repressed memories my ass, those were my memories she hoarded. In a bout of pettiness, I strolled in with every intention to make a spectacle out of the whole situation.

" _Why do you bother?_ " I drawled purposely in English as I made my presence known. " _They wouldn't think twice about throwing you to the wolves if you outlived your usefulness_."

The look of terror on her face was priceless.

" _Not expecting to see me?_ " I drawled with a dull voice with my arms crossed. " _I supposed being the fan girl you are, you would forget that none of these people really matter. Were you really considering to make yourself a martyr? Have you let this indulgence addle your mind?_ "

Kasa stood dumbstruck and terrified, unable to even form a single sentence.

"Calm down!" said Inoichi as he tried to reassure and snap her out of her stupor. "She's nothing more than the manifestation of your inner darkness. Denying her existence would only make her stronger."

Inner darkness? What sort of nonsensical conclusion was that? I am not the sad excuse of a copy that shows up at the waterfall of truth, but a quick glance at Kasa told me that she believed the man's theory. Well, who am I to ruin her fun?

If you can't tell, I'm being sarcastic.

" _Oh, I'm sure we both know_ that." I drawled while eying her with disdain. " _So, what are you going to do about it? Giving me a hug and parrot blondie's sappy speech? That's not going to force me into the recess of your mind. Unlike him, you're not the chosen one. You don't get hero quirks._ "

At first, I thoroughly enjoyed how she was in a state of panic as I whipped up the vines in a frenzy, but as time progressed, I found it losing its charm. Watching her breakdown was more uncomfortable than I expected. Regardless how annoying I found her, she was still only a child with memories that she wasn't capable of handling. I found myself relenting a little when she finally managed to gather her wits and retaliate.

" _You will not contain me! I will never be a memory!_ " I snapped theatrically as I allowed the vines to entrap me. Of course, she had no clue I was actually the one that commanded them. They were connected to my memories after all.

"I've restrained her," squeaked Kasa, not daring to let her eyes stray from me as she spoke with Inoichi. "What do I do now? I can't keep this up forever."

"You would have to open one of these doors and seal her in there for now," advised Inoichi.

"Open them?" parroted Kasa in horror.

If I were a nicer person, I would've allowed her time to deal with her own issues, but being in vines was annoying. The moment she got distracted, I commanded the vines to open up one of the rooms that contained memories that related to the Yamanaka that accompanied her. It was far more effective to drive them out than to fight.

…Now if only they stayed out.

"What do you want?" demanded Kasa when she returned from her chat with Inoichi. "For me to accept you?"

" _Please, as if I want to be associated as Lawful Good._ " I drawled before going into another bout of villainous monologue. The whole bit about wanting everlasting fame was nothing but a lie. It was easier to have her hate and ignore me than to have her come to me with all her problems.

"What's to say I wouldn't just tell them and let them take away that freedom?" She challenged, but I knew it was a bluff. She was so easy to read.

" _Go on_." I laughed heartily as I called out her bluff. It makes no difference to me since I'd be stuck in her either way.

She eventually made a determined effort to ignore me as much as possible when she returned to her life… in which she was promoted to chunin… I have to question the soundness of not only Hiruzen's old mind, but also Inoichi who was fully aware that she's not the sanest person around. I supposed it helped with building the pseudo reputation she gained from the chunin exams.

I never thought it was useful until Sasuke got kidnapped.

"KASA-NEE!" I could hear the boy scream in anguish while Kasa laid in a puddle of her blood.

"Shut up!" hissed the shinobi that skewered Kasa.

How many times has it been now? Four? Five? I really need to make a death counter for this girl.

"What did you do? We were supposed to take her back alive!" hissed the shinobi's accomplice.

"I had no choice!" snapped back the other as they bickered.

Both Kasa and I sat through their bickering while her body was too damaged to move. Being a jinchuriki with purely demon chakra running through had made her somewhat close to an immortal. In short of a full decapitation, I doubt anything else could kill her. Except, the regeneration was much slower compared to Naruto's.

In the time it took to regenerate, Kasa fell into another fit of panicked internal mopuddle

nologue. Every other line was either "I must save Sasuke!" or "I have to save Sasuke!" If it wasn't to shut her up, I wouldn't have offered to save the brat with the brother complex.

After all… this was as much as my first kill as it was hers. Except, I don't get to break down and cry about it.

"Hello." I rasped out through Kasa's torn throat with blood gushing from my lips as I grasped onto his neck. Gods, it hurt so much to talk. "Tonight's a good evening to die, wouldn't you say?"

"The hell? She's still alive?" shouted the first ninja and Sasuke gave off a muffled scream from their grasp.

"Let go," growled the second ninja as he tried to rip my hand off, but instincts took over and a surge of healing chakra darted up through my arms. When I realized what was going to happen next, I forced a sadistic smile to my lips despite how much I wanted to turn away from the gory sight to come.

"Goodbye." I whispered before the neck exploded, splattering guts and blood against her blood-drenched clothes.

The remaining Kumo-nin changed tactics and decided to threaten Sasuke's life in exchange for my cooperation, but again, he and Kasa both don't realize that losing Sasuke wouldn't be much of a loss for me at all. While he made his demands, I made haste in healing up the throat wound on Kasa. The pain was far too distracting to keep up a good façade.

"You do know, the only reason you're still alive is because he's alive." I reasoned. "What makes you think that you would live any longer if you killed him?"

"I'm not joking. If you come closer, I will kill the brat! Even if you kill me afterwards, he would still be dead," growled the man.

I gave off a low chuckle that slowly escalated into a psychotic cackle. Not the wisest thing to do with a tender neck that's been slit wide open just moments earlier, but it did what I intended and scared the man stiff. On a whim, I decided to go on a tangent and weaved an outlandish origin-story. Have to keep up the act after all.

"Do you want to know why mother picked the name Kasa?" I drawled in a Joker-esque manner. "She said Kasa would be the umbrella that protected others, but does anyone know what exactly that umbrella protect against?"

The man's nerve was weaker than I thought as he abandoned all hope of survival and drove his blade towards Sasuke's neck. I fought back a mental curse as I hastily swapped with the boy using a replacement jutsu and caught the man's wrists. The blade fell short by inches to my throat, any slower and I would've suffered the same skewering death Kasa experienced just moments ago. I wasted no time and blew off his hands with a strong pulse of healing chakra.

A dangerous smile crossed my lips despite how much I wanted to cringe and scrub off the warm blood that splattered across my face from the explosion. Kasa was freaking out in the back of her—no, our mind. She may not be me, but she I have to concede that she derive some of my sensibilities... if that could even be called that.

"The downpour." I continued with a gleeful voice as the spray of blood died down and the man dropped to his knees.

"You monster!" screamed the handless man in agony. "You took my hands! You took my hands!"

Kasa had long gone silent, unable to take in more of the horror that I've placed before us. She wanted to scream, but couldn't. Idly, I wonder if I've finally driven her catatonic.

"Monster? Ah, so you share the same fondness that she has in calling me such names." I chuckled and grabbed the man by the hair as I hauled him to my eye level.

His eyes were wide in pain and terror. His breathing turned labored as his body shook from the blood loss. It was cruel to keep him alive at this point. I would give him a quick merciful death, but I had a role to fulfill and a two stupid children to save from this fucked up universe.

"I'm afraid that particular nickname is reserved." I said wryly as I tilted my head mockingly to look at him. "But, if you must call me something, you may call me Rayne, the downpour of blood. An umbrella would be quite useful at this point, wouldn't you say?"

I could feel Kasa's dread as I reached out for the man's face with my other hand and before I could finish the deed, I heard a scream and a small body tackled me to the ground.

"KASA-NEE STOP!" shouted Sasuke as he clung to me in a death grip.

"Sasuke." I growled in irritation as I quickly released my hold on the Kumo-nin to put some distance between us. While the man lost his hands, he was still a ninja, it didn't make him any less dangerous.

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" chanted the boy desperately as he clung to my waist. "You're an iryo-nin aren't you? You're supposed to heal people not cause pain!"

I flicked my eyes between him and the Kumo-nin and struggled to pry the stupid brat off of me. He's going to get both of us killed and unlike me he doesn't get the benefit of free revivals.

" _Good god, what the hell did you do with the traitorous bra_ t _?_ " I snarled in English in hopes to sound demented enough to either get him to back off or Kasa to do something about him. " _He's pulling an 'It's not you' cliché! Disgusting_!"

But that never happened. The boy clung even tighter when I spotted a flicker of light around the Kumo-nin's body.

"Let go of me you little brat." I snarled as I tried to pry the younger boy's arms off me, but the little fucker was persistent.

"No! Not until you return to your—"

For the love of— I gave up the kinder route and abruptly knocked him out with a forceful jab to the neck. Only enough to stop the blood flow to knock him out, but not enough do any lasting damage. Any harder than that might result in me snapping his neck.

"Now, where was I?" I sighed in irritation as I nudged Sasuke's slumped form aside as gently as I could without seeming considerate.

All the while, Kasa started a rambling mantra of no more and I felt somewhat relieved she was slowly gathering her shit together.

"Right." I drawled with a breathy sigh as I made my way towards the Kumo-nin. Something seemed off about him and I want to deal with him ASAP, less he decides to self-destruct of some other stupid kamikaze shit.

However, two steps in, wooden pillars shot up from the ground and sprouted vines that quickly latched onto my body and held me in place. I glanced over at the fallen body at the corner of my eye and forced back a sigh, so close.

"Tsk." I clicked my tongue in annoyance as I glanced down at the vines. You would have to be brain dead not to recognize Yamato's work, but then again that just means I could just leave this bullshit for him to handle instead. " _Well, I had my fun, your turn_."

Without further warning, I returned control to Kasa and left her to the tree-user's capable hands. After all, he did give us the best weapon in our arsenal of tools and weapons. I should spare him some level of trust.

…Except, I seem to have spared him too much as he played possum to get at the Kumo-nin who—not surprisingly—decided to blow himself up. This was why stereotypical villains lose, they stand around to monologue and present the enemy a chance to retaliate and kill their ass. I totally called this one!

What I didn't manage to predict was Kasa's ability to act like a homicidal sadist, but I supposed it made sense with all the training she received from Kurei. As much as I viewed her as a child, Kasa was very much a trained killer. She just happened to hold a fake sense of morality through my memories. It only became clearer during her brief stay at Obito's the night of the incident.

This unbelievable girl slept through the whole night without a single nightmare or remorse over those she killed. She even had the gall to claim that I've kept it from her dreams… and to think I'm supposed to be the evil one. I've managed to look like a deranged nut, but she managed to make grown and accomplished shinobi quake in their sandals.

Between her little break down at Hiruzen's office and the first real display of her prowess as the Crimson Terror, I wonder if Kasa's secretly a psychopath pulling wool over everyone's eyes. She definitely managed to gain a whole lot of sympathy from those around her. Honestly, if she wanted to quit and become a civilian, I'm certain between Kushina and Mikoto, the two women could make it happen even if it meant war with Kumo.

Of course, why would she want to become a civilian? Life as a shinobi was far more interesting. She wouldn't last through the mundane life of a civilian. She'd either go stir-crazy or enact a massacre. Conversation-wise, this girl was no different from someone egging for compliments; the difference, she wanted me to coerce her to do worse and then go about another internal monologue about why it's a bad thing…

What a fickle moral compass…Maybe I should tell her to "kill it with fire" the next time she's faced with a life and death situation… except the next time was Kakashi charging at her with a chidori at hand in the name of "suck it up bitch." He had an interesting way to show support in his own way.

_Geez, he's taking this too far._

Kasa's eyes widened at the sound of my voice.

_But I supposed this is his way of being nice._

"What"? She was thoroughly confused.

_Scoot over, I need to have a chat with the scarecrow._

Without further explanation, I took over and promptly retaliated against the silver-haired jounin in a more violent approach. Kasa, like usual, held back her strengths unnecessarily. While she was nowhere close to being able to defeat Kakashi one-on-one, she could at least make it difficult. Seriously, come on she has explosive cows at her command. EXPLOSIVE—COWS!

"Hehe, hahaha! What's the matter Kakashi?" I drawled in amusement as our conflict came to a lull. "Didn't you say you were going to kill us? What happened to those big words just now? Bring it on you little pissant!"

"...Us?" frowned Kakashi as he stared at me with a wary eye. "Kasa?"

"Sorry! Kasa-chan's not here at the moment! It's Rayne in the house!" I cackled as I amped up the clichéd villain act. "Or out… whatever floats your boat. Either way, I'm going to fuck you hard."

"What?" said Kakashi with furrowed brows, likely baffled by my odd behavior.

"Not that way… unless you want to?" I waggled my brow suggestively.

Kakashi, as I've quickly learned, was the protective sort, but in an unconventional way. Instead of trying to keep you from the world, he decided on the tough love method… which involves chucking an underage child into a forest filled with blood-thirsty monsters! Good job, Kakashi! Definitely friend of the year!

… He will pay for this.

* * *

Beyond Kasa's various crying fits, the stay at the Forest of Death was overall, uneventful. She managed to kill the giant spiders on her own… not that it was a big deal. She killed animals before. This wasn't really that different, except in size. She and Kakashi somehow reconciled before returning to the village.

I stopped paying attention since I was thoroughly exhausted from keeping watch for her whenever she fell asleep. If the chakra flares weren't so bad after each time she "died" I would just let her get killed. It's not like she won't come back anyway.

Despite having survived the Forest of Death, Kakashi hadn't relented in the least when it came to training Kasa to survivable levels in anbu. Watching Kasa's own Shadow Clone sass her out was rather amusing, but it didn't make up for the hell that we endured in the Snow Country.

"No…" whispered Kasa as she shook her head in denial and dove towards the cold, unmoving Princess Yukie and attempted to revive her through CPR.

She must've kept at it for over a quarter of an hour before she set the forest on fire. I didn't realize she delved into a dangerous stage of hypothermia until she was halfway through torching the pursuers that came after her and the princess.

" _Joy to the world for burning-nin. I barbequed their heeeeads!_ " sang Kasa deliriously as she danced and commanded the fire dragon.

"No, no! NO!" screamed a Yuki-nin before he was silenced.

" _What happened to their bodies? I burned them like nobodies,_ " cackled the girl as she ran after another target. " _I burned, I burned, I burned._ "

I tried wrestling control from her to help, but she had a death grip over her own body and wouldn't relinquish control until Kakashi was there.

"Fuuuck! It's cold." I hissed and immediately jumped up to bring some warmth back to our body.

It definitely didn't feel this cold inside her mind. I scowled and turned to Kakashi with every intention to scream his head off, but it didn't last beyond the first sentence. Kasa's body was cold to the point of stiffness. I could barely move my fingers without them tingling with pins and needles. It hurt to breathe, making it impossible to even talk… Not that it ever stopped me.

"No…no! No! How could you let this happen?" snapped Sosetsu angrily as the daimyo turned to scowl at me. "My daughter's dead! You were supposed to protect her!"

"Tt." I clicked my tongue in turn with a dark glare I had half a mind to flip him off and kick his ass, but a sharp throat clearing from Kakashi warned me otherwise. He won't let me cause any more political drama while Kasa was barely awake to defend herself. "My apologies your majesty that the princess fell to the elements of your country. I was busy handling your Yuki-nins that wanted to kill her."

"You! You!" His face turned an angry shade of red.

"Furthermore" I cut in sharply when it seemed like he wouldn't relent. "According to our contract, the mission parameters was to protect you and eliminate anyone that posed a threat to your person. There was no mention of the princess within this contract. We have fulfilled our duties as per your request."

I haven't seen a single word on any contract since… well, since I woke up in Kasa's mind I supposed. The mentioning of contracts was a diversion tactic. Hard to stay angry when you have to remember exactly what was written in a legal document. Regardless what world you're in, politics and legality would always remain a pain in the ass.

Speaking of pain…

"… You might want to catch her and start CPR. She's going to into cardiac arrest." I hissed as the numbness in my left arm set in and we were a good deal away from the daimyo.

I clutched a handful of cloth at my chest as I fell forward and into Kakashi's waiting arms. He was quick to lay me down on the ground and began compression to my chest in attempts to restart the heart. I have no clue how I managed to stay awake throughout the hellish ordeal. A normal person would've been out by now.

"Fuuuck!" I screamed with a wheezing breath when a jolt went through my chest with a bout of lightning release.

"Rayne, are you able to swallow soldier pills right now?" asked Kakashi.

"Do I look like I can swallow shit right now?" I coughed and clenched at my chest once more.

Gods, it hurts so badly. The pain was so immense, I almost didn't notice Kakashi pulling down his mask and popped in a handful of soldier pills in his mouth and chewed. If I wasn't so distracted by the sudden revelation of his face, I would've asked what he was doing.

The man was… more handsome than I expected. Then again, I've always imagined him to be one of those effeminate pretty boys. The thought alone made me want to cringe. My thoughts on his face didn't last long when he took a quick swing of water from the nearby sink before covering his mouth over mines. Instinctively, I kept my mouth clamped shut at the sudden approach, but he anticipated the move and pinched my nose to force me to open my mouth for air.

It was by far the most awkward moment I've had with this man. That's including the mutual "I will kill you if you kill Kasa" thing… huh… when did I start getting protective of Kasa beyond just doing it to shut her up?

"Are you trying to drown us?" I coughed violently as the excess liquids that I didn't manage to swallow dribbled down the corner of my lips.

"Can you swallow on your own yet?" asked Kakashi again, his gaze showed no nonsense.

"You're going to drown us to death with mouth-to-mouth force feeding." I retorted, but weakly shook my head in response. It was hard to protest in this state.

"Her core temperature needs to warm up faster than this," said Kakashi as he popped in more soldier pills into his mouth and crunched them in his teeth. "The soldier pills will help the chakra circulate through her system faster and the warm water will help along raising her body temperature."

"I know that dipshit!" I growled, but soon found Kakashi lowering his lips onto mine once more as he angled my head for me to swallow easier.

…I swear I'm going to kill him.

* * *

The return trip to Konoha wasn't much better. Kasa was in what seemed like a catatonic state, but in truth, she was just exhausted and recovering from death… again. The lack of internal monologue during the week was a godsend. No one should have to share mind space with a pubescent child that has the tendency for internal monologues. Unfortunately, in exchange, I was stuck with a moody Kakashi instead.

"Stop wallowing, it's bad enough the idiot's near catatonic, I don't need to see your sorry face wracked with guilt either." I grumbled during the boat ride back.

"How's Kasa?" asked Kakashi with quiet concern.

"Sleeping and not likely going to wake anytime soon." I muttered with a tired breath and ran a hand through Kasa's auburn locks out of annoyance. "Tch, her hair's getting long."

"…How's her body?" continued Kakashi's line of questioning.

"Cold, but recovering." I pulled the thicker layers tightly around my body; the air was still cold even though we're no longer in Snow Country territory.

"And her mind?" he pressed on with concern, grating on my nerves like an overbearing boyfriend… Where the fuck did that come from?

"In shock, but she'll come out of it eventually." I answered grumpily.

First Kasa, now Kakashi? I must be suffering some form of Stockholm Syndrome. Honestly, one's my jailer and the other's my warden. I have no reason to like either of them or even feel the need for protectiveness. Yet…

"Rayne?" questioned Kakashi in confusion when I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"If you insist on being emo, at least pretend to be useful as a hot water bottle." I muttered a half-hearted excuse with my head firmly turned away from him. "Go to sleep, I'll take night watch."

At first, the silver-haired jounin slept lightly during the nights. He probably didn't trust me to not to slit his throat in the middle of the night, I supposed. Neither of us spoke much during the return trip. Barely ten words passed between us each day, a fact I enjoyed immensely due to enduring through Kasa's endless bitching.

It was sad to say goodbye to the sweet silence when we finally returned to Konoha. One particularly loud and obnoxiously green fiend assaulted us with enough brightness to dwarf the sun. Even worse, he convinced Kakashi to take a barely recovered Kasa out drinking… to the point of alcohol poisoning… I might have to postpone Kakashi's death to kill Gai first… Not because I don't want to kill Kakashi. I'm still going to do it… What? Honest, I'll kill him right after I kill Gai. I promise!

* * *

…Maybe I'll kill Gai after I kill off Kasa's visitors. So… fucking…loud. Doesn't anyone know the term silence is golden? Also, why the hell was everyone trying to kidnap Kasa for one reason or another? Did she suddenly become some plot device?

When Kakashi appeared and snatched her away after having gone through various keepers, I could almost kiss him out of relief… then he talked.

"You should have Rayne do the assassinations for you. She can handle killing better than you can," suggested Kakashi

Gee, thanks for volunteering me to being a homicidal maniac that's totally what I want to do for the rest of my life when I grow up…asshole. Kasa's internal rambling worsened and I ended up having to take charge of her body as control of her body slipped from her grasp. She still hasn't fully recovered fully yet.

"Kasa?" called out Kakashi in concern as if he sensed the sudden change.

"Hello Kakashi." I greeted him with a drawl instead.

"Rayne," returned Kakashi before he dropped me like hot coal.

"Hey watch it!" I huffed as I caught my footing on the roof. Had I been less careful, I would've fallen right off the edge. I'm not sure if I should be insulted or annoyed at his repulsion.

"Just because I suggested that you take over her assassination assignment, doesn't mean this is an invitation to assume control," said Kakashi coldly.

…Definitely annoyed.

"You get what you ask for." I retorted haughtily.

"I asked for your assistance in assassinations only. I never mentioned about anything else," grounded out Kakashi.

…And insulted.

"I'm not a clown for hire." I growled.

"Kasa will still be performing anbu missions, you're only in charge of assassinations," said Kakashi sternly with no room for objections as though I was a child.

Well, if I'm going to be treated as a child regardless what I do… then why not, act like a child?

"Of course, of course." I sighed in a light-hearted tone as I turned my back towards him. Partly to show I don't see him as a threat and partly to be the antagonistic bitch I am. "Who am I to say otherwise? You're the boss after all."

"Return control to Kasa," demanded Kakashi and I felt the anger bubble and simmer.

"Hey Kakashi." I forced a disarming smile to my face, despite how much I wanted to wring his neck. "Have you ever heard of the phrase sticks and stones may break my bones, but words could never hurt me?"

Kakashi frowned and revealed his obvious unfamiliarity with the turn of phrase. Then again, this world solves everything through violence. It wouldn't matter who said what, just kill it with fire and be done with it. Not many here would think the pen was mightier than the sword.

"It okay if you've never heard it, but just to let you know that phrase is full of shit." I continued with false cheer. "Broken bones mend easier compared to a broken mind."

Maybe that last bit was me being a little butt-hurt about being treated as a lesser human, but since I'm tasked to playing a homicidal maniac, I have ways to vent.

Maiming ways… Killing ways…

On most missions, I killed them off as quickly as possible and resorted to singing if it went longer. My acting skills were about as believable as Kasa's, which meant it didn't hold up well the longer I stayed exposed. While I've resigned myself to killing people to protect the idiot child Kasa, it didn't mean I enjoyed it… and since Kasa wasn't one to easily die… this was going to be a long and pain in the ass existence.

Aside from assassinations and mass slaughter, there was little else I could do while sharing a body with Kasa. Boredom drove me to improve on Kasa's arsenal of tricks to something more lethal… Naturally, I failed and made my life more difficult by healing the enemy instead.

"You've got to be shitting me. I managed to replicate Healing Wind!? This is bullshit! I call bullshit on this bullshit!" I snarled in frustration after maiming the enemies a second time after my unintended wave of healing.

One year, two years… The higher the death count, the more Kasa retreated into each day. She wasn't traumatized by the deaths per say, rather she was growing angst-ridden due to constantly being on mission with only Kakashi as company. Beyond tending to each other's wounds and mission reports, there wasn't much conversation or physical contact between them.

Kakashi must've been more attentive than I thought because just when it seemed like Kasa was on another path for self-destructive tendencies, we suddenly found ourselves with two new teammates… Well, sort of new.

"You're an idiot as always," greeted Itachi with his usual drone.

"…Did you grow taller?" huffed Kasa in annoyance.

The friendly bickering between the two was enough to give me cavities, but at least it lessened the noise in Kasa's head. With Itachi and Yamato, I still have trouble thinking him as Tenzo, the kills went more or less to those two. I ended up with practically nothing to do aside from antagonizing Kasa out of boredom. Though, I probably should've paid more attention.

"Kame, watch out!" shouted Kakashi.

The enemy raised a blade over our head at the ready to end us. However, before I could take over, Kasa had already reached her hand out and turned the man into a spray of guts and gore. Any other time, I might've teased her, but this time she seemed genuinely bothered by the kill. Her fears of being viewed as a monster might've been a big reason behind it, but I couldn't let her freeze up in the middle of a battlefield.

As per usual, I took over her body and continued to eliminate the rest of the threats still available. Kasa on the other hand quietly panicked in the back of her mind, a stark difference to her usual monologues. The possibility of being ostracized had paralyzed her with fear and then I remembered that she was still just a kid…

"…Kasa?" questioned Yamato with uncertainty as I killed the last of our enemies.

"Not quite." I replied in turn with a waggle of my finger as I hammed up the dialogue. As long as I make myself distinctly different from Kasa, I would be the one to take the brunt of their scrutiny. "It's rather rude of Kasa-chan to not introduce us, but I supposed she'd rather keep me a secret."

"And you are?" asked Itachi evenly, unperturbed by my act. Does nothing even faze this brat?

"Rayne the Downpour, at your service." I continued with a flourish despite Kakashi's demand for me to return Kasa her body. At least I know he's buying this, the things I do for—

_Poke_

"Quit fooling around and collect the bodies," droned Itachi dully as he turned away with disinterest.

Did he just…

"Did you just…" I spluttered in shock. "DID YOU JUST FOREHEAD POKE ME YOU LITTLE DICKWAD!?"

"Instead of wasting energy on your dramatics, we could go home sooner if you sealed up the bodies," droned Itachi as he turned to leave.

"You!" I continued to splutter in disbelief. He's treating me as though I'm Kasa. He thinks I'm Kasa! "I'm not Kasa you fucking little weasel! My name is Rayne! RAYNE!"

"Whatever you say," dismissed Itachi offhandedly.

… In the next year, I attempted to murder Itachi over a hundred times and the little fucker managed to get away from me each time. New goal, I kill Itachi before I kill Kakashi… Except the war worsened and our anbu team was disbanded and reassigned. Fuck… I'm never going to get to kill that silver-haired asshole!

By either chance or fate, Kasa ended up back with her original teammates in the saboteur division with her as their tank… Who the fuck was in charge of building these teams? Kasa could barely protect herself, what made them think she can protect other people?

"Return to base! I'll hold them off!" shouted Kasa through the chaos. Forever the martyr… this girl has no self-preservation instinct.

"Santa you go on ahead," continued Tokuma as he pulled out his shamisen and joined her in battle.

"Like hell I'm leaving the two of you!" snapped Santa as he reached into his pouches and drew out several shurikens, along with a variety of his self-made gas bombs. "Team Four fights together or not at all!"

Apparently the rest of her team shares that lack of self-preservation… I desperately want to face-palm myself. I'm surrounded by stupidly reckless children. As expected, I had to step in to bail Kasa out when she ran out of her seal cards and was forced into a corner. Fortunately, she didn't react as badly when I drenched the battlefield with the blood of our foes.

With the severity of our situation, this was no place for a mental breakdown. Keeping her alive was hard enough as it is without her rambling in the back of our mind.

_SANTA!_  She screamed, drawing my attention from the fight to the fallen Yamanaka.

"Tch." I clicked my tongue in annoyance. If he died, who knew how long I would have to listen to her moping and bawling. Cursing under my breath, I turned my heel and made haste towards the fallen blond, but from the distance I could see a conniving grin tugging at the corner of his lips.

What happened a moment later could only be described as a colorful explosion of light and screams. I gave a low appreciative whistle as limbs went flying left and right. A wave of pure relief came from Kasa before I returned to the slaughtering of our enemies. The less she's agitated, the better our chances in surviving this bullshit.

On occasion, we still ended up doing mission with Kakashi, Itachi and Tenzo, but those were few and far in between… which meant my chances in slaughtering the damn Uchiha was limited... What? I don't have a problem. Eventually, he was going to die anyway, so why did it matter if I kill him a little earlier?

Speaking of dying… Why am I stuck with the one person who keeps doing so?

_Wake up you idiot! WAKE UP!_  I screamed through her mind as her body took its sweet time in regenerating. Well, not entirely its fault since there were suppression seals keeping her body from healing properly.

It wouldn't have been so bad of a death… if I didn't have to listen to not one, but TWO fucking monologues. Good god, not only that but it was the "you killed my friend/family/lover/whatever" monologue. Do you know how many of those I've heard since killing for Kasa? At least once a week if not more if we're on the field.

Fortunately, Santa and Tokuma had enough sense to drag her beaten corpse away and tried to remove the suppression seals… Unfortunately, not enough to realize that they don't share the same invulnerability to death as their idiotic teammate.

"SANTA!" screamed Kasa when a tanto impaled its way through the Yamanaka's skull.

"Kasa move!" shouted Tokuma as he shoved Kasa out of the way of a blade.

"To…kuma?" whispered Kasa in a broken voice as his skewered formed crouched protectively over her.

"Run," wheezed Tokuma as a splatter of blood dripped onto our face and Kasa fell into another one of internal fits. "Kasa, you have to get out of here."

"Tokuma!" She screamed.

_Move over!_

"No…" whispered Kasa with a cracked voice as tears poured from her face.

What? What the hell is she doing?

_Give me control! If we don't run, we're going to die!_

Well, we may not die from this, but it doesn't mean it won't hurt any less.

"No…" She repeated as he held onto her teammate. "I'm not going anywhere."

What followed was a massacre that even I couldn't have done on my own. Kasa was like a a single movement wasted in her fluid movements. Limbs went flying. Geysers of blood flowed like crimson fountains. It was like a nightmare garden.

Throughout the mindless slaughter, I tried countless times to talk to Kasa, but she couldn't hear me. All I could do was sit and watch as the bloodshed unfolded. From the moment the slaughter started to the moment she gathered the bits and pieces of the corpses around her, she was in a zombified state. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't reach her.

Her internal murmurings turned into apologies. Endless apologies for letting her teammates down, for letting them die in front of her. I thought to leave her alone and let her grieve over the loss of her friends and teammate… but then I felt it.

I felt the familiar sense of self-loathing and misery… the same misery that brought me here. I've almost forgotten what it felt like after being with Kasa for so long. She may have been annoying, but while I was with her, those feelings didn't surface. For it to do so now must mean…

"…Kasa?" whispered Kakashi with concern when he spotted her sorry state when she returned. "What happened?"

I watched Kasa's desperate attempt keep herself together in front of the silver-haired jounin, but in the end her body gave out from exhaustion. It wasn't hard to take over once she was out.

"Kasa?" asked Kakashi as I felt him catch me in mid-fall.

"She's just tired from the lack of sleep and non-stop travel back to Konoha." I muttered for the lack of anything else to say. "Do me a favor and carry her home. I'm in no mood to talk to her family and her body needs the rest."

"…Will she be okay?" asked Kakashi as he adjusted his hold and shuffled me on to his back in a piggyback manner.

"What do you think?" I grumbled and rested my face on his shoulder.

It was obvious to the both of us that Kasa needed help, but neither of us knew how to go about it… So, I went with what I knew and told him as much as the truth as I could. I told him about his original future. I told him about the changes Kasa made and I… hinted what may become of Kasa if we did nothing to help her.

"…Don't worry," assured Kakashi quietly. "I'll get her out of anbu."

"Then what?" I asked.

"I'll handle it," murmured Kakashi. "I won't let her disappear. It's the least I could do."

For some reason… those words were reassuring and despite my concerns for Kasa, I relinquished control of her body and allowed it to get its full rest.

As promised, Kakashi got her out of anbu, but it resulted with Kasa lashed out in the most hurtful of ways.

"I HATE YOU KAKASHI! I HATE YOU!" shouted Kasa out of a fit of anger.

The look on Kakashi's face was hard to describe… mainly because there wasn't much to see with his mask on, but from his body language I could tell he was surprised that it affected him. Around Kasa, his stance was usually relaxed unless they were in battle or on the field. After that declaration of hate, he seemed almost at a loss at what to do. Kasa, with all her pigheaded obliviousness, picked up on it too.

"Kakashi… I—" She started to apologize, but the sullen look of the silver-haired jounin's face made her fell silent.

"It's okay," said Kakashi as he released his grip of Kasa's arm and dropped his hand to his side.

"I didn't—" She tried again, but he disappeared in a flurry of leaves. "Kakashi…"

_He knows you only said that out of anger…_  I reassured her, but even I wasn't too certain that Kakashi didn't take the anger to heart. She did promise that she wouldn't hate him… but then again, everyone lies.

…Starting with parents and teachers.

While I wasn't too certain that making Kasa a sensei the best idea… it was definitely interesting to watch. I still question the soundness of Hiruzen's decision-making. As Kasa noted, she really shouldn't be allowed near children. With Kazuhiko alone, she already slammed his face into the desk like five times within the first three days of class.

As the weeks turned to months, I noticed the students having a positive effect on Kasa and in turn she grew attached to the various hellions. Kasa by nature was the social sort as I've mentioned before. She thrived on interacting with others. With so many children looking up to her and fearing her, it did wonders to filling up the social need she lacked while she was in anbu.

If given a choice, Kasa would have everything remain the same in this moment. However, staying stagnant wasn't an option as Naruto began to have visions of the very life Kasa tried to steer him away from. Neither she nor I was clear on what might've triggered the visions and whether or not it meant the future would remain unchanging despite the actions she'd taken.

My thoughts trailed back to the replacement Tobi I encountered in Kasa's mind back during the chunin exams. If a replacement could be found after Obito opted out being a villain, what's to say the world couldn't force the same events to occur in spite of my interruptions? Naruto was the chosen child after all. Did it matter if his mother was alive or not?

No amount of prior knowledge could help in this situation. Even if we changed one thing, there was a chance that the universe would right itself and forced the events to happen anyway. Both Kasa and I were blind in this conundrum, but the idiotic girl pressed on in spite of the uncertainty. She thought the answer could reside in my memories horded in her mind, but it was a futile search. There was no way we could handle this on our own,

… _Go ask for help._  I told her when she came to me in search for answers.

Of course, the idiot never listens and goes on with her bout of woe is me… Did I mention I hate teenagers? Damn angst-ridden brats, never accepting help when they actually need it! Hell, Kakashi even came to her and  _offered_  help. What more do you want you stupid brat!

… _You god damn idiot, are you seriously thinking about tackling the Uchiha Massacre on your own? He offered! OFFERED! You're not forcing him you stupid…argh!_

"…There's still time right?" murmured the girl quietly in turn.

_Time!? You insufferable—_

"You are  _surprisingly_  a very hard person to catch alone," drawled a voice I've only heard once before.

What was Obito's replacement doing here?

"Or were you avoiding me on purpose, Oracle-san?" chirped the masked man as he casually made conversation with Kasa.

"Who are you?" asked Kasa. I could feel the nervous tension writhing in her as her hand grew clammy and cold. Like me, her best guess was that this stranger was Obito's replacement.

"No need to play stupid around me," said the man as he gave a vague wave of his hand. "You know the answer already."

Dread overcame me as I desperately wanted to take over Kasa's body and run away as far from this man as possible… but I found that I couldn't. In the five years I've been with Kasa, I've killed hundreds without a second thought. Yet, this man… somehow scared me. He wasn't emitting a killing intent. He wasn't visibly hostile and even more ridiculous, he seemed… harmless.

"Heh, it's really cute how defensive you're being," chuckled the stranger.

I need to get Kasa away from him. How long ago did Kakashi leave? If I took over now, could I make it to him before this man takes us down?

"You listen to me. I have no interest in joining any organization regardless of what you say. I won't let—"

"Easy, easy," said the man jokingly as he cut off Kasa in mid-sentence. "You don't have to make up your mind now. I'm merely just giving you an option to escape all this."

"I'm not changing my mind," growled the girl.

"You're a stubborn one aren't you?" sighed the other as he pressed his fox mask firmly in place. "No matter, I'm sure you know where to find me if you change your mind."

An illusion of choice, but in actuality a threat. One doesn't have to be a genius to read between the lines.

_What are you going to do?_  I asked when we both agreed that the man could not be trusted.

"…I don't know," murmured Kasa quietly.

_What do you mean 'I don't know!?' go tell someone! The fucker's in Konoha coming and going as he pleases! We don't know who he is or what his motives are! We're completely blind here!_

"No," grounded the girl firmly.

As usual, we escalated into a screaming match where I try to reason civilly.

_You have got to be shitting me! Don't you pull that I can't drag others into this bullshit! You've already pushed away help to deal with the massacre and now you've gotten the attention of possibly the most dangerous person in this world!_

… Keyword being try. As you can see, I'm not exactly the most eloquent of people.

"It's my life, my choice," retorted kasa furiously. "You can't stop me."

Oh… I see how this is. So we're playing it like, huh? Okay, we do that you fucking little brat.

"What are you going to do? Put me in a coma like—"

I gave no warning as I forcibly dragged her into her own mindscape with the use of the countless vines in her mind. Without her to take command, her body collapsed to the ground in a motionless heap, but I couldn't care less if she bruised from the fall. She could take some punishment after acting like such a spoiled princess. I kept an eye out in case the stranger was still around, it wouldn't do if Kasa gets kidnapped because she couldn't defend herself.

Fortunately, the man was nowhere in sight and I could focus on keeping Kasa restrained. With her bullheadedness alone, it was hard to keep her sedated long enough for me to do anything with her body. If only I could get a hold of Shikaku or even Kakashi, we might have a chance, but with her fighting to stay awake almost every hour, it was impossible to do anything.

Keeping her sedated was all I could do when a search team led by her father came about and found her motionless body by the Memorial stone.

"Rayne, you asshole! You seriously placed me in a coma!?" roared Kasa in fury as I struggled against Tesuri and the other iryo-nin's attempts to wake her up.

If I let her regain control of her body, this would've been for nothing… Not that I could've done anything. Even when Inoichi brought Shikaku, I couldn't talk to them with how quickly Kasa broke through all the vines. Hell, I think they got smacked a couple of times while they were there.

It was immensely frustrating to hear her beg and scream whenever she was awake. I'm not doing this because I find it fun! Why won't you listen? As the days progressed, the reason for this was slowly forgotten as stress and frustration got the best of me.

"Rayne, let her go," ordered Kakashi when he came days later after Inoichi and Shikaku's failed attempt to draw Kasa out.

"You think I enjoy being in here with her?" I growled in frustration as the vines tightened even more around Kasa's body.

"Then why not let her go?" asked Kakashi calmly as he careful sidestepped a stray vine that snapped from binding Kasa.

"Oh trust me, if she doesn't get herself killed the moment I—" I paused to command another vine to supplement the one that snapped. "Gods! Why do you have to be such a pain in the ass! I'm trying to save you!"

"By keeping her a prisoner in her own mind?" frowned Kakashi.

"You do not understand the level of bullshit I have to deal with." I turned to Kakashi with a growl. My temper was at its limit. "She wouldn't listen to me. She wouldn't ask for help! If I let her go on like this, she  _will_  die."

"You can't keep her here forever," reasoned Kakashi.

"Then  _what_  exactly do you propose?" I snarled as I whipped another vine onto the pile that held Kasa.

"Let me talk to her," continued Kakashi.

"I told you, she won't ask for help." I grounded out.

"I'll convince her to confide in me," replied Kakashi calmly.

"If she refuses?" I glared at him.

"I've gave her my word that I will stand by her side no matter what she decides on. I won't let her do this alone," said Kakashi.

"Are you sure?" I asked with narrowed eyes. "Even if it may lead to your death?"

"Do I have to repeat myself?" replied Kakashi with determined eyes.

"…Fine." I eventually relented and ceased my hold over the vines. "Get out and you better not fuck up."

Once he left the mindscape, I released my hold on Kasa completely and allowed her to resume control of her own body. I barely watched the exchange between the two before I slump down against my graffiti door and promptly fell asleep. Even though I had no body of my own, it was an exhausting amount of effort and energy to keep Kasa contained.

I thought it was okay to shut my eyes for a bit… but I was wrong, so very wrong.

"It would be better that the Uchihas are taken care of and eliminated before they could become a problem." Danzo's voice drew me out of my sleep, but it was the sudden tremor in Kasa's mindscape that completely woke me.

"What the—" I jumped to my feet and braced myself against the wall. Something was wrong; the mindscape was never like this before.

Hastily, I tried to rummage through Kasa's recent memories to make sense of what happened, but I found that I couldn't access any of it. Why can't I access it? And why… why were the corridors getting darker?

"Kasa!" I shouted to the girl in hopes of getting some answers but she didn't respond… as though she couldn't hear me… that can't be it right? "Kasa, I know you can hear me, stop joking around."

No response, not even a twitch. She really couldn't hear me. What could have caused… My eyes focused on Danzo who was idly talking to Hiruzen about how the Uchihas shouldn't be given so much leeway. While it wasn't strange for the man to voice out his opinions against the Uchihas… why would he do it here? Unless…

"…Danzo has Shisui's eye," said Kasa quietly to Kakashi and Shikaku after the meeting with Hiruzen and his advisors was over.

The fuck…? Did Shisui die while I was asleep? I couldn't have been sleeping for that long! It wasn't until Kakashi sent Kasa home with the reassurance that Shisui would be taken care of that I was certain the Uchiha was still alive… Not that it mattered since Danzo already has one of his sharingans. What's most concerning was that possibility that he might've used it on Kasa.

How do I even break her free from that if it's used on her? Unlike typical genjutsu a simple kai won't cancel the effects of Shisui's eye. It made the victim think the suggested thought was their own. With this stubborn idiot, nothing I say would be able to get through to her even if she could hear me… What could I do?

"…I'm sorry," whispered Kasa as the massacre began.

…Nothing but watch apparently… Well played Danzo, well played. I closed my eyes and crossed my arms to the sound of snapped necks and Kasa's apologies. As much as I wanted to get angry, I couldn't because the moment Kasa's done, the massacre would be pinned on her. In short of deserting the village or joining Akatsuki, Kasa was thoroughly screwed.

She had at least an A-rank bounty on her head from Kumo and half of Isobu, which no doubt Kiri would go after if she dared leave Konoha. On her own, she wouldn't last a week with these two powerhouses after her. Joining Akatsuki wasn't any better since they were also hunting the jinchuriki for their demons. She was fucked in every way possible.

There was no saving her… or so I thought.

"Naori-san," choked Kasa as she desperately tried to wipe away the tears with her sleeves like the little kid she is.

"What's the matter?" asked the purple-haired woman in concern as she cautiously approached her.

"I… the Uchihas…" hiccupped Kasa incoherently as Naori tried to comfort her and make sense of her words, but as expected of the command for her to eliminate the Uchihas, she attacked the woman.

I fully expected to see Kasa die at least once while facing her, but to my surprise, Naori didn't kill her, not even once. Instead, she did something even more unexpected. She sacrificed her eye to break Kasa free. There was still a chance I could save Kasa. There was still a chance to fix this.

_WAKE UP YOU DUMBASS!_  I screamed to Kasa in hopes she could hear me and this time, she did.

"…Rayne?" croaked out the girl in confusion, but thankfully she was in full control once more.

_You've been fucked over by Danzo!_

I tried to emphasize the importance in killing the wrinkly old fucker for her own good… but in my haste, I forgot the most important detail… Kasa doesn't trust me. It doesn't matter what I say, she would always do the opposite… That was further proven when she decided to go off to warn and save Mikoto instead of herself.

Despite her efforts, Mikoto still ended up getting skewered by… Shisui? What the hell? I thought Shisui was the good guy. Didn't he want to save them? Why would he…?

"Save them?" scoffed Shisui as the corner of his lip quirked up into an obnoxious smirk as he reached out to cup Kasa's cheek almost lovingly. "They're the very reason why I can't have you. Why would I want to save them and their archaic traditions?"

…I didn't see that coming. Shisui was the last person I expected to ever succumb to the Uchiha's stupid curse of hatred. Honestly, don't these Uchihas have any brain cells? Gods, they're so easily brainwashed and manipulated!

"Enough of the dramatics," sighed a familiar voice. I recognized it as the intruder from the chunin exams.

First Shisui and now this asshole? Can't we just get a break for once?

"Kasa-nee!" shouted Sasuke a moment later as the man hauled him out from hiding.

… I just had to ask, didn't I? Why do we keep test fate? It's obvious she's a bitch, but we don't learn! We never learn! Kasa's the prime example! Who the hell pursues the enemy when it's obvious they're outclassed and outgunned?

_Can't you see he doesn't even see us as a threat? He just fucking chucked the demon cat over the wall as if it was a stray ball! Listen to me for once will you? Run! Take Sasuke if you have to. Just fucking run!_

Naturally, she doesn't listen to me… and guess what?

"Goodbye Miss Oracle," said the man named Naki before the mindscape around me shook and the walls began to crack and crumble.

I stumbled to catch my footing as I watched the mindscape fall apart before my eyes. What was going on? Why were the walls crumbling? What did he do? Everything happened so quickly, I couldn't make sense of what was going on as the floors gave way and Kasa came crashing headfirst through her own mindscape.

"Kasa!" I reached out to grab her, but… right before my eyes, she disappeared into a flurry of nothing.

There was no body, no remains… nothing, but that shouldn't mean anything, right? She died plenty of times before and came back, this time shouldn't be any different… right?

…Except, the mindscape around me continued to crumble and break. This wasn't right, she couldn't be gone. The main story hadn't even started yet! There was no way…

"…Shisui-ni?" Sasuke's terrified voice broke through the chaos of the collapsing mindscape.

I'm in the middle of freaking out because Kasa's gone! I don't have time to save you, you stupid little brat!

"If it wasn't for you, Kasa would have been mine," said Shisui in a low threatening hiss.

I'm not saving him!

"This won't take long," said Shisui.

You can't make me.

"S-Shisui-ni," choked Sasuke as he clawed at Shisui's hand at his throat.

I—God damn it. I tore my thoughts away from Kasa temporarily as I took over her body. With the mindscape slowly collapsing into itself, it was extremely difficult to take and maintain control over Kasa's body. If that Naki bastard wasn't so preoccupied watching Sasuke getting strangled slowly to death, I might not have been able to break free so easily and blow him away with an explosive tag. I wasted no time in sending a roundhouse kick to Shisui's face and grabbing Sasuke when he released his grip in surprise.

"Kasa-nee?" coughed Sasuke in confusion as he coughed and wheezed to regain his breath.

"Shut up, stay quiet and we might both get out of the shit alive." I grumbled darkly under my breath as I sped away from the Uchiha district with Sasuke in tow.

With each step I took, my vision grew blurrier and blurrier. Several times, I almost lost my grip on Sasuke as my control over Kasa's body began to slip.

"Kasa-nee…?" tried Sasuke timidly.

"Didn't I tell you to keep your trap shut?" I growled as I gave a forceful blink and shook my head to clear my vision. Come on body, don't give out on me now. I didn't manage to get far as Shisui appeared in front of me via body-flicker.

"Kasa?" questioned Shisui with an uncertain frown.

Kasa, Kasa, Kasa, that's all anyone ever says!

"Sorry, I've reached my quota for dumbasses and assholes for the day. So fuck off." I growled and sent a card exploding in a red mist.

As hard as I tried to get away, I couldn't. With my lack of coordination, it was near impossible to dodge the bit of earth that rose up and grabbed my leg. All I could do was hold Sasuke protectively as I slammed into the ground.

"I have to say Miss Oracle, you surprised me," said the man in amusement as he strolled casually into view. "How did you manage to keep your mind intact after that?"

"Oh you know, this and that." I drawled sarcastically I knew for a fact that I wouldn't be able to take him on my own. So… I did what I could to bide for time. "I'm more surprised you've managed to remain on this plane for as long as you have Naki."

Naki, like most other villains, loved to talk. Since it was unlikely someone would come to my rescue, there was no urgency for him to not do so.

"So, can you see my future now? Or are you just bluffing?" grinned the man as he squatted down to my eye level. Despite the throbbing pain in my shoulder, I held onto Sasuke tighter even if it made no difference in hiding him from the man.

"I can make an educated guess." I scoffed, not allowing the wariness show in my voice. Now was not the time to seem weak. "There aren't many people who could use that cheap ass technique."

"Cheap…?" repeated Naki in bewilderment before he started laughing. "That's an interesting way to view the reanimation technique, Miss Oracle."

"Reanimation my ass, you fucking zombie!" I spat, knowingly antagonizing him because begging wouldn't have dragged out the moment for as long. "So what's your problem? Dead girlfriend? Dead teammates? Or were you one of the snake bastard's boy fetishes?"

"Oi, oi," droned Naki as the humor left his eyes and a dead serious expression crossed his face. "That's not funny."

"Oh, did I hit a nerve?" I continued, but froze when a blade press against my neck.

"You're not Kasa," snarled Shisui. "Who are you?"

I hadn't expected my words to affect Shisui. As hard as I tried to hold onto Sasuke, I felt my grip loosening with each second. I could feel him trembling in my arms, but still, I had to continue the charades in whatever slim hope that someone… anyone would come save us.

"My, my, my." I drawled with sadistic glee as I did my best not to move, less I want the blade to slit my throat. "What do you think would happen when you willy-nilly wipe someone's mind clean pretty boy?"

"Wiped… clean?" The Uchiha's suspicious eyes slowly widened in horror before he turned towards Naki in fury. "You weren't supposed to wipe her mind completely! That wasn't the deal!"

Please, please, please let him decide to fight Naki for whatever inane broken promise he made. I could barely keep my eyes open as I struggled to keep control over Kasa's body.

"And exactly what deal are we talking about here, hmm?" interrupted Kakashi in a low drone.

I nearly cried in relief at the sound of his voice as he swept both Sasuke and I underground and away from Shisui and Naki.

"Are you two okay?" asked Kakashi worriedly once we were on the surface again.

"Took you long enough." I mumbled tiredly as I slumped deeper into his arms. I wanted to cry. "I'm at my limit…"

"Rayne?" called out Kakashi worriedly.

It's funny… having everyone call me Kasa all night and he's the only one to actually recognize me for who I am and call me by my name. Aside from him, Kasa was the only other person to acknowledge me, even if by hatred, but him… it was almost like he cared. I then realized… I didn't like seeing him upset. How strange…

"They wiped her." I mumbled drowsily. "They wiped Kasa… I'm just barely holding on."

"What?" whispered Kakashi in disbelief. "What do you mean wiped her?"

…I really didn't like seeing him upset. Why… Oh… Realization sank in like a bolt of lightning as my eyes slowly drifted close.

"Do me a favor…" I mumbled as my eyes finally closed. "Don't wake me…"

"Rayne! Answer me, what do you mean—" His voice cut out as I finally lost grip on control over Kasa's body and plunged back into the broken mindscape.

* * *

What the hell is wrong with me? Why do I care whether or not any of these people survive? All I wanted in the beginning was for everything to end, right? If I just let them die, if I just stand by and do nothing, I would be able to finally get what I want… Then why am I not doing it?

Why can't I just stand by and let things be? Instead, I'm sitting in the darkness of Kasa's broken mind, trying to mend what she so carelessly allowed Naki to tear apart. Of all that was destroyed, the only things remained intact was my door and the various doors that held my memories. My guess, since I was always a separate entity than Kasa, it didn't work on eliminating me, just as Danzo's command had no sway on me either.

The vines that obeyed me once before were in tatters. While they still responded to my call, it was a weak, paltry thing. It took hours for even a single slither to reform and even then, it was far from being able to piece together the remains of Kasa's mind and repair it. Not that it was completely useless, they were immensely useful whenever someone decided to enter Kasa's mind again uninvited.

"You look like a mess," commented Tobi when he appeared.

"What the hell do you want Uchiha?" I growled as the few vines I managed to reassemble flicked agitatedly around me.

"On all accounts, this shouldn't have happened since the current Obito has no connection to Madara, but it did," started the man.

"Of course." I scoffed distastefully. "Madara was always the resourceful sort… Him and Danzo anyway. It didn't take them long to find a replacement for you anyhow."

"…I see," murmured Tobi quietly. "Any clue who my replacement is?"

"Have you seen the state of Kasa's mind right now?" I snarled the vines flailed dangerously around me as I glare up at him.

"If he could do this to your mind, what do you think he could do if things continue the way they are?" demanded Tobi.

"GET OUT!" I snarled as I whipped a vine at him.

"Kasa!" shouted Tobi as he tried to dodge the flailing vines.

"If you're really that fucking concern, kill Danzo first!" I snapped as the vines grew violent towards him. "Who cares about Madara's new fuck toy when Danzo's more likely to drive the village into the ground?"

"Kasa," protested the Uchiha again, but changed tactics when he saw I wouldn't respond to him. "Rayne, listen to me! Your name is Rayne right? That's what Kakashi called you."

"Unless Danzo's dead and Kasa's back, I don't want to listen to anyone! NOW GET OUT!" I screamed before violently ejecting him from Kasa's broken mindscape.

* * *

One week, two, I slowly lost track of the days as I gather as many broken vines and threads of chakra in hopes to repair Kasa's mind. Her mind was ravaged and destroyed, but not gone. There were remains still floating about. The vines, like me were separate entities from Kasa, those reformed without a problem. It just took time and effort. Everything else… needed a price.

Unlike the vines, they refused to reform at my will. The only way to put them back together again was to give up pieces of myself in turn. Those came at the price of the doors that held my memories. To reform one of Kasa's doors, one of mine needed to disappear, which meant for Kasa to live, I needed to disappear.

"Hmph." I hummed wryly as I stared down at the frail chakra threads in my hands. I literally have her life in my hands. I get to decide whether she lives or dies… how quaint.

"…Kasa," whispered Itachi's uncertain voice through the darkness and I found myself look up to not the stoic and cool Uchiha, but a lost child.

"Sorry to disappoint, but my name is Rayne." I rasped with fake glower as I lied through my teeth, no point in giving him false hope if I decide I rather not disappear. "I'd say your princess is in another fucking castle, but we both know that's not true. Kasa's gone."

"No," refused Itachi as he took a step towards me. "She's not."

"Are you the one who resides in her body and mind?" I challenged in turn, but I could see the desperation on his face despite how he tried to hide it. "I'm telling you, she's gone. It doesn't matter whether or not you believe me, but that's the truth!"

"Then why are you still here?" asked Itachi quietly, almost hurt by the notion.

For someone that wasn't very expressive, he was oddly easy to read… or maybe it's because he's here instead of outside?

"…Get out." I warned him, but he didn't listen. "GET OUT!"

I lashed out at him in hopes that he would leave on his volition, but he didn't. He just bore through each attack, never retaliating, never crying out in pain… No matter what I threw at him, physical or verbal, he didn't take offense to it. He just bore through it.

"If you're concerned that I will take vengeance on Kasa for her involuntary slaughter of my clan, I'm not," said Itachi once I've stopped my assault. "What's done is done. I… have little care for my clan and its actions."

I found myself laughing bitterly for this poor and desperate child. He didn't care for the family he just lost. He cared about why he was left behind by his only two friends… Damn ninjas and their petulant need for child-soldiers. No wonder they all turn into murdering psychopaths.

"You know." I murmured quietly, deciding to give him some truth. He deserved as much after being treated like a puppet all his life. "If Kasa hadn't interfered, it would've been you instead of Shisui that turns traitor."

"What do you mean it would've been me?" Itachi frowned at my words.

I told him about Shisui's original fate. I told him about how Kasa ensured his survival. I told him how he was supposed to be the one that massacred his clan. Things no one should tell to the anger-prone and emotionally stunted Uchihas, but on the off chance he succumbs to the curse of hatred like Shisui, then at least he would be directing his hatred towards the right people.

Eventually, I had to kick him out of the mindscape when I noticed he reached some sort of epiphany. I might have inadvertently unleashed a monster upon the ninja world. Not something I felt particularly guilty over, but I rather not have to listen to his grand scheme of plans to enact his revenge or whatever crazy Uchihas do.

I had no interest in being a hero. It was more of Kasa's thing and I definitely had no interest in the countless visitors wishing for her return.

"Sasa-nee wake up soon okay?"

Naruto.

"Kasa-nee! I'll take revenge for you!"

Sasuke.

"Sensei, you promised you'll see us graduate right?"

Sakura.

"Kasa…"

Tesuri.

"Kasa-chan."

Kushina.

One after another, day in and day out. They would come. They would talk. They would NEVER shut up and the worst one of it all!

"Hey Kasa…"

Kakashi.

Whenever he comes, he stays for gods know how long and compared to everyone else, he talks the longest. Updates on the war, updates on the kids, updates on anyone and everyone Kasa's been close to. I wasn't sure what was worse, the long, arduous task of piecing back Kasa together or endure being Kakashi's personal confession stand and diary.

If I had managed to repair more of Kasa's basic motor functions in the beginning, I might've taken over and throttled him for submitting me to his endless rambling… but as time grew on, I found his visits were the only thing that kept me from losing myself in the monotony of repair work.

While Kasa was visited regularly by Naruto and various others, none of them talked about anything that was particularly engaging. Often, they just end up talking to each other instead. Since I didn't need sleep, the non-visiting hours and the dead of night were particularly difficult to bear through. Knit one, purl two. I ended up using different mantras to keep myself distracted as I weaved the broken pieces back together.

One year…

Two years…

Three years…

Four…

I lost more and more of myself as time passed. An arm, a leg, my torso, my face… It was terrifying to see them fade out of existence. The more the corridors returned to its previous appearance, the more difficult it was to continue. On the one hand I was relieved that it would all end soon, but on the other hand…

Kakashi's visits became sparser as more and more missions occupied his time. I expected myself to be gone by the next time he visited, but by some chance he came before it happened. With the amount of myself I had left, I had the option to either repair a little more of Kasa and fade away without anyone knowing any better… or I could use that last bit of energy to talk to Kakashi.

…I could be a little selfish here right? It's not like I'm going to…

"Kasa?" I could hear Kakashi's voice grow alarmed when I tried to take control of Kasa's body, but I barely had enough energy to move anything beyond one hand.

So, I did what I knew would attract his attention… I flipped him off. Childish, I know, but it did the job and Kakashi found his way into Kasa's nearly repaired mindscape.

"…I should really charge you for using us as your verbal diary." I rasped tiredly as he turned around to face me. The look of horror on his face was priceless.

"Rayne what—" His single eye widened in disbelief as he rushed towards me.

"What's with that look?" I joked half-heartedly but didn't protest when he reached out to pull me from the ground.

"Your body…" whispered Kakashi as he carefully looked over me and proceeded to snap in fury at my current state. It's really funny how much he cares.

"I had to use something to piece back together what's left of Kasa." I mumbled and sank deeper into his hold, taking whatever comfort I could in my last moments. "Almost done though… not sure if she's going to be all there, but… there should be enough for you to work with."

"If you look like this now, what's going to happen when you're done?" demanded Kakashi.

…It was nice to have someone care and not be alone when I finally disappeared.

"Rayne," said Kakashi seriously and I found myself grinning despite my circumstances.

"I exist to make sure Kasa lives… If my disappearance will assure her survival…" I whispered.

"…This is your goodbye isn't it?" whispered Kakashi quietly.

"Well, it's common courtesy. You know, before you leave, you say goodbye?" I joked.

Kakashi didn't find it very funny.

I thanked him for keeping us alive. I thanked him for keeping us sane and I thanked him for acknowledging my existence. I've come to terms that I was going to disappear, but for some reason it was still hard to say goodbye completely.

"Can I trust you to make sure she stays safe when I'm gone?" I whispered

"…When have I not?" murmured Kakashi in return as he gripped onto my remaining arm tightly.

"Hehe, you were always good at keeping your promises." A smile tugged at my lips and I allowed myself a small little confession, one that he would never know. "That's why I love you best."

"…Thanks for all your hard work," whispered Kakashi sullenly, not registering my words beyond a joking farewell as I expected. "Rest well."

"See you in the next life." I said light-heartedly, but my heart never felt heavier. Strange how it's finally over like I wanted… but I suddenly didn't want to go…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's notes: First, I would like to thank you for reading through this monster of a chapter. I promised myself I wouldn't do another one after Kakashi, but with Rayne, it was a bit personal since she was not a character I planned on having from the beginning.
> 
> To explain why, I have a confession to make. When I started this story two years ago, I had every intention to commit suicide the moment this story was finished. Hence, the reason why in the beginning there was an update nearly every day. I was in a dark place in my life and nothing I did helped. I've been forcibly hospitalized and placed under suicide watch. My psychiatrist had me dosed up in anti-depressant and anti-psychotic medications, but it only made it worse. I hated myself, I hated being depressed and feeling utterly useless.
> 
> Writing Kasa was an escape, she wasn't me and with all the stuff I've put her through, I don't want to be her either. What I didn't expect was for this story to get so popular. When saw so many of you enjoying it so much, I found myself looking forward to writing each chapter and reading each and every one of your reviews. I'm sorry I haven't respond to a lot of you. I'm not very good at coming up what to say beyond thank you so much for reading this story. I can't say the desire to kill myself abated completely, I still have days where I wish I was dead, but as I've said, I promised myself that I wouldn't do that until this story was over.
> 
> Hopefully, by the end of this I would change my mind, but for now. I just want to thank each and every one of you so much for keeping up with this story and for all the time and review you've given it.


	5. Naruto (ナルト)

 

" _I know you're still there!_ _Stop running away and take my hand!_ "

_"The world…restart."_

" _What the hell are you talking about?"_

"… _repent… this is… all I could manage."_

" _Obito? Obito!"_

" _I will kill your son."_

" _No! Not Naruto! Not my baby!"_

" _Give him back! Return my son!"_

" _Goodbye Yondaime Hokage-sama."_

" _MINATO SENSEI!"_

_"Shh, it's okay, you're not alone. You won't be alone. You'll have a ton of people around you this time. I promise."_

Tired blue eyes drifted open to a blurry ceiling. Naruto resisted a groan as the last vestige of sleep disappeared and his vision cleared. It was that dream again. One of the many that recurred as long as he could remember.

"Naruto, are you awake yet? If you don't hurry, Sasuke's leaving without you!" called his mother from the kitchen.

"W-what?! Mom, tell him to wait!" shouted Naruto in response as he stumbled out of bed and haphazardly scrambled to get ready. "Stupid Sasuke!"

Clothes went strewn about as Naruto stripped off his pajamas and yanked on orange shorts and a black tee-shirt. He was halfway towards the door before a hand grabbed onto the back of his shirt and yanked him off the ground. It was one of the many disadvantages of being a short four-year-old.

"Naru, you're not leaving the house without washing your face and brushing your teeth," scolded Kasa, his irate eight-year-old chunin sister.

"Sasa-nee! I'm going to be late!" whined Naruto as he looked up to the older girl.

"No excuse, you should've woken up earlier," chided Kasa as she hauled him towards the bathroom.

"But Sasuke's going to leave without me!" protested Naruto.

"Wash up, now," ordered the girl as she dropped him off in the bathroom and stood guard at the door until he did as ordered.

"Kasa-chan, don't you have to go on a mission today? Shouldn't you get ready instead of chastising Naruto?" asked Kushina in amusement as she came down the hall with two bentos at hand.

"As long as Naruto's clean, I could be a little late," huffed the girl as she grabbed a face towel and scrubbed his face.

"Sasa-nee!" whined Naruto through a mouthful of toothpaste as he flailed under her ministrations.

This was the typical morning in the Uzumaki household. For as long as he could remember, his Sasa-nee had always been in his life. Yet, something about this didn't feel quite right. It wasn't so much that something was missing, rather it felt unreal. As if he was not supposed to have any of this.

"Looks like someone got scolded by Kasa-nee," smirked Sasuke as Naruto stumbled out of the front door, face still red from his sister's harsh face scrubbing.

"Shut it Sasuke," grumbled Naruto as he stomped ahead towards the Academy.

"You know I'm right," retorted Sasuke smugly as he followed.

Despite how out of the way it was for Sasuke to meet up with him to leave for the Academy together, he came everyday like clockwork. Due to the recurring dreams plaguing Naruto nightly, the blond often found himself unable to wake up on time for classes. What began as concern for the Uchiha, turned into routine when he found it easier to come get Naruto rather than wonder if the blond was going to be late again.

Of course, the reason for his concern didn't solely fall in Naruto's perpetual tardiness. Rather it was due to something the Uchiha observed in the short years of their friendship.

"Hey, it's that _boy_ ," murmured someone in the crowd.

"Hush, he'll hear you," hissed another.

"Come on Naruto, we're late as it is," said Sasuke as he grabbed onto Naruto's arm and dragged him along pass the morning inhabitants of the village.

Naruto did his best not to grin as he watched his Uchiha friend scowl at anyone who dared to utter another word under their breath about him. It was comforting to know he had someone he could trust outside of his immediate family. His mom, Sasa-nee and Uncle Tesuri were great, but it wasn't the same as having Sasuke, Itachi-ni and Aunty Mikoto.

Uncle Fugaku was a bit scary, but he didn't give him the cold gazes the other villagers gave him. There were other people that were nice to him, like old man Hokage, Rin, Obito and Kakashi. He toyed with the idea of telling them about his dreams. However, every time he thought to do so… something made him hesitate.

"Hey Sasu—" started Naruto.

"Move Naruto!" shouted one of Sasuke's many fan girls before he found himself butted out of the way. "Good morning Sasuke!"

For a moment, he thought he saw pink on the girl that shoved him aside, but when he blinked there was only a dull brown. Confused he shook his head and paused when he spotted the elusive color shying away at another corner in the room.

"…Sakura?" said Naruto in surprise at the sight of the meek girl desperately trying to hide her forehead with behind her bangs.

Out of the brief snippets of the dreams he could recall, the pink-haired girl was a formidable kunoichi filled with confidence and determination. The one before him paled in comparison. She looked like she was one insult away from crying. A part of him wanted to reach out and talk to her, but…

"Sasuke-kun, how come you keeping hanging out with that loser Naruto?" whined one of Sasuke's many fan-girls.

"Yeah, you're so much cooler! You totally don't have to hang out with him," continued another.

"Who I hang out with is none of your business," countered Sasuke as he pushed pass them. Naruto didn't have a chance to say a word as the Uchiha grabbed onto his arm and hauled him off to the desk closest to the front of the room.

With Sasuke's clan prestige and popularity, it mattered little whether he was friends with Naruto. People would like him regardless the circumstances. However, with Sakura… Naruto cautioned a glance back towards the pink-haired girl. It would be a different story if he tried to befriend her. Unlike Sasuke, she was from a civilian family and with her shyness, any scrutiny from their fellow classmates would destroy her.

He wasn't sure if she would ever become the girl he saw in his dreams, nonetheless he couldn't let her break. Aside from class assignments, he limited any interaction he had with her to prevent bullying by association. Except…

"Ha! Look, even Naruto doesn't want to talk to you forehead girl. Aren't you just pathetic?" sneered one of their fellow classmates.

"I…" mumbled Sakura meekly as she coward back from the jeering girls.

"How about you go home? There's no way you can be a kunoichi!" said another girl.

"Those…" growled Naruto low under his breath as he moved to tell them off. Before he could do so a hand grabbed onto his arm and yanked him back. "Sasuke?"

"You'll make it worse for her if you go right now," explained the Uchiha as he kept his gaze forward and away from the rowdy girls surrounding Sakura.

"But—" protested Naruto.

"Oh really?" interrupted a mock amused voice. Naruto snapped his attention away from Sasuke and spotted Ino casually making her way towards the group. "I seem to recall Sakura scoring higher than any of you in the recent exams."

"As if!" shouted another. "She scored horribly in the physicals. She probably cheated!"

"Who do you think our senseis are?" challenged Ino. "Do you think they wouldn't be able to catch an Academy student cheating?"

"This is none of your business Ino, why are you butting in anyway?" groused another.

"Why not? Unlike you, I can see potential in Sakura," countered the blonde girl casually. "Face it, you're all just jealous of her."

"J-jealous!?" spluttered the other girls indignantly.

"Out of all of you, only Sakura's closest to reaching my grades," continued Ino. "Since none of you can't even dream in coming close, it's obvious you've fallen to picking on Sakura."

"What!?" screeched the other girls.

"Come on Sakura, they're just jealous," continued Ino cheerily as she latched onto the meek girl's arm and dragged her along. "Don't steep to their level."

"U-um," stuttered the pink-haired girl in surprise as she looked between her and the other girls as she was dragged away.

Issue resolved, Sasuke released Naruto arm and went back to his usual routine. A relieved sigh escaped from the blond's lips as Ino dragged Sakura off with a cheerful chatter. The two left a horde of angry girls in their wake, but as long as none of them attempted anything, Naruto couldn't care less.

"Naruto, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you have a crush on Sakura," commented Sasuke wryly

"Ha-ha," huffed Naruto as he plopped down on his desk and buried his face in his arms.

"Angry?" grinned Sasuke.

"You wish," muttered Naruto as he turned his head aside to ignore him. Sasuke snickered and went back to his notes as they waited for the next class.

Despite how it seemed, Naruto wasn't bothered by Sasuke's harmless teasing. He was more relieved that someone finally looked out for Sakura. For some reason, he felt a level of closeness to her. None of those feelings were of the romantic sense. If anything it felt almost the same as he did for his Sasa-nee. She was someone precious, someone close and someone he needed to protect.

Except, his Sasa-nee didn't need any protection. She and Itachi-ni were the youngest Academy graduates since Kakashi and they were promoted to chunin, barely a year later. Both he and Sasuke always fought over whether his Sasa-nee or Sasuke's Itachi-ni was better. Of course, his Sasa-nee was better. She always kept her promises to him, while Itachi-ni always skipped out on his to Sasuke. Not to mention, unlike Itachi-ni his Sasa-nee treated them to ramen and trained with them when Itachi-ni couldn't… even if she tended to call them cute and coddle them like stuff animals.

He liked to believe his sister was invincible much like Sasuke's brother, but then she broke.

"Sasa-nee?" cried Naruto with worried when she came home the day after Sasuke almost got kidnapped. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Sasuke said someone attacked you! Someone tried to kill you!"

"…Naruto?" spoke Kasa barely above a whisper.

Her eyes lacked the warmth and life of the sister he knew and love. What happened to her? What could've cause his beloved sister to look like this? He watched as his mother tended to his Sasa-nee. For some reason, the clothes on his sister bore the Uchiha Clan's crest. Why was she wearing Uchiha clothing when she wasn't even one of them?

He wanted to spend the night watching over his sister, but his mother and Uncle Tesuri convinced him otherwise. It was painful to see his sister in such a state, even more so when he stumbled across Kakashi speaking with his mother and Uncle Tesuri the next morning about his sister.

"You want her to what?" hissed Kushina in disbelief. "Have you not seen the state of her last night?"

"It's the best chance she has right now," explained Kakashi.

"In comparison to what you've suggested to Hokage-sama?" countered Tesuri icily.

"Would you rather that alternative?" continued Kakashi. "Kasa is strong, she managed to pull through last night. I'm certain she will be able to handle what's to come."

"How are you so sure?" frowned Tesuri.

"Unless you can find another way, Kasa's coming with me. This is the best chance she'll—"

"No!" shouted Naruto as he crashed through the door and interrupted their conversation.

"Naruto?" said Kushina in surprise at the sight of her son.

"It's your fault Sasa-nee is like this isn't it? I won't let you take her!" snapped the small blond as he glared up at Kakashi.

"Stay out of this," commanded the silver-haired jounin with a stony gaze. "This doesn't concern you."

"It does when you make Sasa-nee sad you big jerk!" snapped Naruto stubbornly.

"What can an Academy student like you do about it?" challenged Kakashi in a low drone.

"I don't know," huffed Naruto, his glare never wavered. "But I'll find a way! I'm not letting you take Sasa-nee!"

"And how are you going to do that?" asked Kakashi dully as though bored with Naruto's declarations. "Only a hokage can decide what happens to her."

"Then I'll become the hokage!" snapped Naruto defiantly.

"Being a hokage is a lot of work, not just anyone can take the job," noted Kakashi.

"Then I'll just make sure I'm not just anyone!" declared Naruto. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Konoha's next hokage!"

"You're not even genin yet. How are you going to become a hokage?" droned Kakashi. "It takes years—"

"Then I'll just have to become a ninja faster! Sasa-nee and Itachi-ni became ninjas at seven! And that I could do it too!" snapped Naruto.

"You work on that," said Kakashi. "Until then, Sandaime Hokage-sama has placed Kasa under my command."

"Y-you! You big jerk!" Naruto stomped his foot furiously, indignant of the silver-haired jounin's dismissal. "Just you wait! I'm going to become hokage! And I'll change all the stupid rules! That's a promise!"

_This is my ninja way!_

He nearly faltered at the sudden snippet that invaded his mind. What on earth? He wasn't even asleep this time, why was it… he fought the urge to shake away the thought as he clenched his fists close stubbornly.

"Is that so?" droned Kakashi, disinterested by his declaration.

"Yeah! And the first thing I'll do is to make sure no one would make her sad like that again!" snapped Naruto. "Then I'm going to make sure no one else has to go through what Sasa-nee has to! I'm going to stop all this!"

Kakashi stared him down without another word as if judging him. Naruto glared back with venomous animosity. Their stalemate broke at the call of his name from the other room.

"Sasa-nee?" shouted Naruto worriedly as he broke his gaze from Kakashi and crashed into her room. The older girl was on her knees with a hand over her mouth as she cried. He didn't know what else to do but to hug her and hope she stopped crying. "Sasa-nee, what's wrong?"

"I-I'm fine," croaked Kasa as she wiped away her tears with her sleeve. It was obvious she wasn't okay.

"You're crying!" protested Naruto

"I'll be fine. Tears are just tears, they'll pass," replied the older girl with a forced smile as she reached up and ruffled his hair.

"Well, I don't think anyone should be making you should be cry in the first place!" huffed Naruto unwilling to let the matter pass.

"Thank you," whispered Kasa with a sad smile as she pulled him in for a hug. "I think you'll be a wonderful hokage one day. The greatest and kindest hokage Konoha has ever known."

Something about her declaration made it feel like there was something more behind her words. He had no clue what exactly was hidden in her words. A quick glance at Kakashi made him certain the jounin knew. However, before he could extrapolate further, his mother drew him away and forced him to the Academy.

After that incident, both Kakashi and his sister disappeared without a word. He asked his mother and Uncle Tesuri about what happened, neither of them would answer.

To make matters worse, Sakura was forced transfer out of the Academy. He didn't know the particulars behind why she left. From what he managed to eavesdrop in on, it didn't sound like she did so willingly.

For a week straight, he felt helpless and weak, unable to protect those he considered dear to him. Sasuke saw his worry and tried to help. To no avail, Naruto still felt like the scum at the bottom of a pond. He thought Sakura would be cursed to the life of a civilian forever, but then she returned. Gone was the meek girl he grew familiar to seeing every day and in her place was the girl in his dreams. Younger than what he recognized; however, the fire in her eyes burned just the same.

He had no clue what brought on the girl's sudden change. The way she looked at Sasuke told another story. No longer did she share the shy doe-eyed gaze towards Sasuke as the other girls. Instead, she looked at him with the intensity of an adversary as though he was a rival or an enemy. If Sasuke didn't explain the reason behind her behavior, he might've thought something happened between the two.

Except something or rather someone happened. Even though his mother and Uncle Tesuri refused to tell him his sister's whereabouts, it seemed like she was still around to be able to help Sakura. Strange, he doesn't recall her ever meeting Sakura or if he even spoke about the pink-haired girl in her presence. His dreams were slowly becoming a reality, Sakura was back in the Academy and he had no doubt the girl will eventually grow into the formidable kunoichi in his dreams.

With her return, Sasuke gained a new self-proclaimed rival. It oddly reminded him of the relationship between his sister and Itachi-ni. With the difference in Sasuke being far more chatty and easily triggered than his older brother. Naruto had lost count on how many times the two argued or fought one another over the class standing. Between the two of them, there were scarce few classes where anyone managed to take either the first or second place in grades.

Sasuke fared better than Sakura in combat and stamina due to a stronger physique, in turn she bested him in chakra control and the academics. Their daily antics served as an amusing distraction from his thoughts over his sister, but her absence still worried him. Even though she helped Sakura, she never came home. What could have happened?

He ended up recruiting Sasuke to help him scour the house for clues when his mother and Uncle Tesuri weren't home. They didn't manage to find anything regarding to his sister's whereabouts, but they did manage to stumble across a number of scrolls with seals in them. He faintly recalled sitting through various sealing lessons his mother gave his sister.

"This doesn't look anything like the storage scrolls my brother uses, what do you think it is?" asked Sasuke as they studied the unraveled scroll.

"It looks sort of like a training scroll for… chakra control maybe?" answered Naruto as he squinted at the various characters scribbled across the paper.

"Chakra control?" repeated Sasuke with interest.

"Don't even think about it," huffed Naruto as he snatched the scroll from his hands. "If mom and Uncle Tesuri wasn't so secretive about everything, we shouldn't be touching Sasa-nee's things."

"But you've already touched it," pointed out Sasuke. "Besides, it's a training scroll. How dangerous could it be?"

"Well…" mumbled Naruto uncertainty.

"Come on, try it. You know you want to," grinned Sasuke. Naruto gnawed on his lower lip. His Uchiha friend got him, he did want to try. "Worst case scenario, I'll run for Uncle Tesuri or Rin-san."

"…Fine," sighed Naruto as he took a better look at the scroll.

"So, how does this work?" asked Sasuke as he hovered over Naruto's shoulder for a better look.

"I think you're supposed to channel chakra through it in a certain pattern," said Naruto as he tried to decipher the details on the scroll. His mother made an effort to give him daily sealing arts training. While he was far from able to draw or create his own seals, he could at least read some of the less complicated seals.

"Channel how?" asked Sasuke curiously.

"I think it's like this?" said Naruto as he poured chakra into the scroll.

"Like—"

**BOOM!**

The scroll imploded. Both Naruto and Sasuke didn't have a chance to react. One moment they hovered over the scroll, the next Naruto was covered in bandages and bound to the hospital bed. Rin and Uncle Tesuri told him the room was destroyed and they had to be dug out from the rubble. They also proceeded to scold both him and Sasuke profusely for using unfamiliar scrolls with no supervision.

Naruto couldn't say a word in protest. He couldn't recall what happened at all, but fortunately it seemed he took the brunt of the damage. Internal bleeding, blunt force trauma, bone fractures and temporary deafness. Sasuke who stood behind him at the time was shielded from most of the force and suffered only minor injuries on top of temporary deafness.

Despite the lengthy list of his injuries, Naruto was glad it was him and not Sasuke. If the Uchiha had been the one in front to channel chakra into the scroll… Naruto didn't want to think about it. The thought of his best friend, lying immobile with all these injuries bothered him.

"Naruto?" called out his mother as she broke him out of his thoughts as she ran a hand through his messy blond locks.

"…Mom?" muttered Naruto.

"You silly boy," murmured Kushina quietly. "You know better than to mess with seals you're unfamiliar with."

"…Sorry," mumbled Naruto apologetically.

"What's done is done, just be glad that neither you nor Sasuke died from this whole ordeal," said Kushina, exhaustion and worry clear on her face.

"Sorry mom, I won't do it again, but I just…" Naruto couldn't meet her eyes with his.

"What?" asked Kushina patiently.

"…I just wanted to know where Sasa-nee went," mumbled Naruto.

"Oh, Naruto," said Kushina as she clasped a hand over his heavily bandaged one.

"Why won't you tell me where she went?" croaked Naruto. "That Kakashi jerk took her right? He kidnapped her right?"

"No, she wasn't kidnapped," answered Kushina morosely. "But, I can't tell you where she is either."

"Why not? Is she not going to come back?" asked Naruto.

"Of course, she will. This is just temporarily," said Kushina as she reached out to cup his cheek.

"Then why?" sulked Naruto. At his sullen expression, his mother got out of her seat, mindful of his injuries as she gave him a gentle hug.

"Naruto… your Sasa-nee is going through some rough times right now. I don't know when she could come home, but she'll come home one day, okay?" reassured Kushina gently. "So rest up and get better soon. She'll be sad and worried if she sees you this hurt when she comes home."

"…Okay," mumbled Naruto reluctantly.

In the days to follow, he was kept off any strenuous training. Practices in the Academy were limited to chakra control and basic jutsus. Sparring combat was prohibited until the fractures in his bone completely healed. Uncle Tesuri assured him his injuries healed faster than typically estimated. Even so, it drove him mad to be unable to join the class spars. Everyone was getting stronger, but he was stuck sitting on the sidelines to watch.

He wanted to get stronger, needed to get stronger. Otherwise, how would he be able to protect the people he cared about? As time drew on, he became more and more agitated. If not for Sasuke, he might have worsen his injuries further by getting into fights.

"Naruto, stop sulking," sighed Kushina in exasperation as he sat pouting at the dining table, poking at his lunch.

"I'm not," denied Naruto with a childish huff. He's not upset. Who cares that Sasuke's brother came back from his missions and his sister was still missing? So what, his best friend could hang out with his brother? It's not like Naruto could train in his current condition anyhow.

_Tap-tap_

The noise broke him out of his thoughts as Naruto glanced to the source. Strange, why was there a messenger hawk at their window? He turned to his mother to see if it was something special, but she didn't look any different as she got up to let the bird in.

"Mom?" he asked as she unraveled the small note the bird carried and read through its contents. His curiosity peaked when a smile crossed her lips and she skipped over to snatch him from his seat. "Mom!?"

"Come on Naruto," said Kushina cheerfully as she hauled him out the door.

"W-what?" spluttered Naruto as he scrambled to not slip out of his mother's grip.

Something in that message excited his mother for her to speed through the village via rooftop. Naruto bit back a surprised yelp at the sudden height change. The smile on his mother's face was clear as day. She practically skipped her way towards the administrative building before finally coming to a stop through one of the many windows open for shinobi to come and go.

"Here we go!" said Kushina brightly as she gently dropped her son to the ground.

"Mom? What are we doing here?" asked Naruto in confusion.

"Hmm, hmm," hummed his mother with a bright grin. "We're here to meet your new sensei."

"Sensei?" repeated Naruto in surprise. "What for? I go to the Academy already."

"You'll see," sung his mother as she ushered him forward.

As Naruto has never been to the main administrative office before, he had no clue where exactly his mother led him. From what he noticed, aside from the shinobi processing the paperwork at the desks, there were no other individual in the room that wore a hitai-ate. Everyone else looked like either travelers or merchants of some kind. Why were they meeting his new sensei here?

His thoughts didn't linger long on the oddity when they walked through the room and into what seemed like a waiting room. At their entrance, Naruto quickly spotted a man reading with his back against the wall by the window. Tall, dark-haired, pale-skinned and a cold distant demeanor, Naruto's guard immediately went up as he assessed the man. He must be formidable if his mother asked for him to be Naruto's sensei.

"Seishuu sensei! So glad you can finally make it!" said Kushina brightly as she greeted the man.

"Kushina-san," greeted the man named Seishuu in return as he snapped his book shut.

"I hope you didn't have much trouble getting here. I know how difficult it could be for you to travel all this way," continued Kushina as the two traded pleasantries.

Naruto stopped listening to the conversation as his eyes narrowed on the stranger. This was a joke right? He was going to be his sensei? The man looked like a stray wind could knock him over if he wasn't careful. What on earth could he possibly train him in?

 _Look underneath the underneath._ Kakashi's voice from his dreams cut through his thoughts and Naruto found himself shaking his head to rid him of the voice. Of all the people, why did it have to be Kakashi's voice he heard? And… why did he have to be right?

Reluctantly, the small blond turned his gaze back to the man. There must be more to him. Just because he looked harmless doesn't mean anything. His Sasa-nee was a prime example of how looks could be deceiving. If he was going to become a ninja, he has to look beyond the surface.

Thoughts resolute, Naruto gazed at the man named Seishuu once more. His new sensei must be testing him to see whether or not he would perceive him as a threat despite his harmless demeanor.

 _Well, better not disappoint._ Naruto thought as he slipped into a stance and charged with a scream. "Take this!"

"So when do you—" wheezed the man in surprise as Naruto's fist found its way into his stomach in mid-sentence followed by a roundhouse kick to his face. In seconds, his new sensei was on the ground.

"Seishuu sensei!" shouted Kushina in shock.

"You can stop faking sensei! I can tell you're just pretending to be weak!" challenged Naruto.

The man didn't move.

"Come on get up what are you—ow!" shouted Naruto as his mother thwacked him over the head soundly.

"What on earth do you think you're doing Naruto?" snapped Kushina as she rushed over to his fallen sensei. "Seishuu sensei are you okay? Seishuu sensei?"

"Ngh…" groaned the man weakly as he laid on the ground in pain.

"But I thought you said he was going to be my sensei…" Naruto trailed off as his mother shot him a glare.

"Your calligraphy sensei!" snapped Kushina. "I hired him to help improve your seal work and you've gone and attacked him!"

"C-calligraphy sensei?" said Naruto in disbelief. "You mean he's not a ninja?"

"Of course he's not a ninja! He's a civilian!" sighed Kushina in exasperation.

Naruto was at a loss for words. How was he to know he was a civilian? All he did was listen to dream… Kakashi. Damn it, he should've known! Even dream Kakashi couldn't be trusted! That's the last time he ever listen to anything coming from Kakashi, dream or otherwise!

Fortunately, his new sensei didn't suffer much injuries from his attack. Albeit, he could've done with one to begin with. Naruto's lesson with the calligraphy started no more than a few days later after the man settled in in the apartment next to theirs. For some reason, the apartments next to theirs were always empty. It seemed like no one wanted to rent them.

Then again, he did blow up his sister's room and demolished a good part of the outer wall. When they brought Seishuu sensei home, he commented on the scaffoldings leading up to their apartment and grew concern when he realized the damage was so absurdly close to where he lived.

"Erm… what exactly happened, if you don't mind me asking?" inquired Seishuu as he look out his window warily.

"Oh don't worry about it, Naruto just got a bit over zealous that's all," laughed Kushina with a harmless wave of her hand.

"Naruto did that!?" said Seishuu in horror as he pointed to the repair work outside. "I know the kid packs a punch, but how the heck did he—that's impossible!"

"Well, he did get into something he wasn't supposed to, but he's learned better now," said Kushina cheerily as her hair flared up dangerously and she shot Naruto a frightening smile. "Right Naruto? You wouldn't want to end up in the hospital again, do you?"

"O-of course not mom," stuttered Naruto weakly as he shook his head.

"Hospital?" screeched Seishuu sensei in horror as he looked down at Naruto with concern, somehow not registering the frightening image Kushina emitted.

It was strange. Aside from his family and close family friends, not many people looked at him with such concern. Even the senseis in the Academy didn't look at him that way. What was with this man?

For weeks Naruto tried to make sense of the conflicting thoughts. Something about this man felt different. Different compared to the feeling he got from his mother, from Sasuke and from everyone else in the village. Despite how cold and distant he was at times, he still cared.

"Naruto, stop spacing out. You're dripping ink everywhere," said Seishuu as he lightly tapped his head with the book he was reading.

"Sensei, can I ask you a question?" asked Naruto as he set down his brush.

"You better not be using this as an excuse to slack off," chided the man.

"I'm not," protested Naruto as he ducked down his head. "I know mom hired you to come tutor me in calligraphy, but…"

"But?" noted Seishuu with a raised brow.

"You're nice to me even though you don't have to," admitted Naruto quietly. "Not a lot of people bother, not even my Academy senseis."

Seishuu fell silent, surprise clear on his face as he was taken aback by his words. Another thing Naruto noticed about his sensei, the man wore his emotions on his sleeve more so than any other civilian he's ever met. He was blunt, brutally honest and at times embarrassingly awkward. While Naruto is aware that his own social skills weren't the best among his peers, he at least tried to learn the normal social cues. His sensei?

"Hmm, you're a bit of a handful for a brat, but you're a good kid," started the man with a careless shrug. "Besides I have better things to do than to make you miserable. It's not worth my time."

"So… I'm not worth your time?" said Naruto quietly. "That's… kind of mean."

"Is it?" asked the man in confusion. "I thought you said I was nice."

"Heh, sensei you're weird," snorted Naruto in amusement.

"I am not weird!" huffed Seishuu indignantly.

With time, Seishuu sensei eventually became another person Naruto considered close and dear to him. It wasn't until his sister's return and hospitalization that he realized what bothered him all this time.

"This can't go on," hissed his mother in a low voice when she thought Naruto was asleep by Kasa's bed.

Naruto feigned sleep as he listened on. They were discussing about his sister, maybe this was his chance to learn what happened to her during her absence.

"This is the matter of her survival," argued Kakashi.

Survival? The word alarmed Naruto. What could have happened that would threaten his sister's life?

"What survival?" hissed Kushina. "She nearly drunk herself to death! What were you thinking taking her drinking of all things after a mission like that?"

"She didn't show any signs the first four drinks! I didn't expect this to happen," grounded out Kakashi.

"And exactly how much did she drink?" demanded Kushina. "Even if she's a jinchuriki, her body's still a child. There's only so much that being a jinchuriki could do."

"It's better than having her in the catatonic state she was in before this!" retorted Kakashi.

"What do you expect dragging her into the Anbu Corps?" snapped Kushina.

"What other choice do we have?" growled Kakashi.

Survival, mission, jinchuriki, anbu… Naruto tighten his hug around his sister as he listened through their conversation. He had no clue what a jinchuriki was. However, the rest of the conversation answered the questions he wondered about for ages. He finally understood why his Sasa-nee, Uncle Tesuri and Seishuu sensei felt different from everyone else. It was the reason why they were never among the people in his dreams. The reason why he never dreamed of them.

…It's because they didn't exist at that point of his life.

Terror and worry filled him at the thought. It continued to haunt him even as his sister recovered. She was rarely in the village due to the sheer amount of missions she and Kakashi took. And when she was home, she never stayed more than a week before she was gone again.

Each time he saw her, the smiles she gave grew more forced. He slowly learned to read the severity of her misery by how much she smiled. The bigger the smile, the more broken she was. It was excruciating to watch her painstakingly upkeep the façade of normalcy when it was obvious to him she wanted to do nothing more than cry.

Some days were better than others. In the three years he watched his sister, the days she spent with her Yamanaka and Hyuga teammates were probably the better ones. The ones with Itachi-ni and Shisui-ni… well, she could use a bolster in her blood pressure from time to time. Then there were the days with Kakashi…

"You're trying to get me killed aren't you?" drawled Kakashi, unamused by the grinning girl.

"Why would I ever do that?" chirped Kasa in amusement, an obvious enjoyment on her face at his ire.

Naruto wasn't sure what to make of their exchanges. On the one hand, his sister acted evilly vindictive as though to enact some sort of revenge on the man. On the other, it didn't seem to be done out of malice. The way she acted and the way Kakashi responded felt more like harmless bantering between friends… Friends with a twisted sense of humor.

He was certain the misery he read in his sister wasn't wrong, maybe she was finally recovering. Maybe she finally found something she could truly smile over.

…He was wrong.

Naruto was next door practicing his calligraphy with Seishuu sensei when he heard a knock next door to his apartment. Curious, he snuck away while Seishuu sensei was in the kitchen and leaned up against the front door to listen.

"Kakashi?" said his mother in surprise when she opened door. Her tone changed moments later when Kakashi didn't return the greeting. "What happened?"

"Kasa's at the Uchiha's right now," answered Kakashi.

"Why? Is she okay? Why didn't she—"

"Santa and Tokuma are dead," replied Kakashi quietly.

"No," gasped Kushina, Naruto could image his mother covering a hand over her mouth as she did so. "What happened? Is she okay?"

"I'm not sure of the particulars, but she's fine… if not for the exhaustion and grief," replied Kakashi. "She said she didn't want to go home, so I brought her to the Uchihas. Mikoto-san's with her now."

"Kakashi, this can't continue! She just can't…" Kushina fell silent, unable to say much more.

"… I know," said Kakashi softly. "I've already spoken with Hokage-sama to withdraw her from fieldwork."

"Withdraw her?" repeated Kushina in surprise.

"He's agreed and reassigned her to teach in the Academy," continued Kakashi. "Hopefully, it will give her a chance to grieve and recover from this whole mess."

"We can only hope," said Kushina sadly. "Thanks for letting me know, I'll stop by Mikoto's to pick her up later."

"It's… the least I can do for her," murmured the silver-haired jounin. "I wish I can do more."

Hands clammy and heart clenched, Naruto dragged himself away from the door and made his way back to his calligraphy station. His sister's situation didn't improve and continued to worsen. Naruto clenched his teeth as he gripped onto his hair and breathed heavily. Was this the cause for his sister to not appear in his dreams? Was this how she's going to…?

No. Naruto shook his head vehemently. He won't let this be the reason. He won't lose his sister because of something like this. He will change the world if he has to if to make his sister happy again.

Classes in the Academy with his sister were… interesting. Gone was her sweet sister demeanor and its place was the terrifying task master, Kasa sensei. Only Sasuke and Sakura managed to remain trauma-free out of his entire class, everyone else flinched at the mention of her name whenever she was out of sight. It would be funny if he wasn't so worried.

In the year his sister acted as Kasa sensei, he did whatever he could to excel in her classes. Unfortunately, his chakra control was less than desired and couldn't get the nomination to join her private iryo-ninjutsu class. He knew his sister was a fair sensei, but he thought… she would have allowed him in the class because he was her brother. He should've expected favoritism wasn't in his sister's personality.

"You know this is probably the first place they're going to come look for you right?" droned Seishuu sensei in exasperation as Naruto remained sulking underneath his only table in the middle of the room littered with drying calligraphy scrolls.

"So?" huff Naruto sulkily. Out of childishness, he hid away in his sensei's apartment instead of going home. He didn't want to see his sister.

"Naruto, I'm tired, I haven't slept in days to prepare for the exhibition back in the capital, please go home," sighed Seishuu sensei.

"No," pouted the blond.

"Naruto," whined Seishuu sensei desperately.

_Knock, knock…_

"Who is it?" called out Seishuu at the sound.

"It's Kasa, can I speak with Naruto please?" answered his sister.

"See what I mean?" said Seishuu dryly.

"TELL HER I'M NOT HERE!" snapped Naruto as he buried himself deeper underneath the table.

"Naruto, I can hear you," sang his sister from the other side.

"NO YOU CAN'T!" shouted Naruto in response.

Due to ire, Seishuu sensei opened the door before the one-sided shouting match could continue.

"Take him home and take him now," growled the man with the last ounce of his patience.

Naruto covered his ears with every intention of ignoring Kasa when she made her way towards him. In seconds, he found his sister down on her stomach and crawled underneath the table to talk to him. He tried so hard to stay angry, but when she gave him that genuine smile, all anger disappeared.

His sister… was smiling again. He had no clue when it happened. For the first time in a long time, his sister was happy again. Nothing could replace the relief and gladness in his heart and while he wasn't qualified to be in her iryo-ninjutsu class, she still included him when she took the class out on field trips and whatnots.

At first, it seemed like she was always irritated, especially when it came to her former classmate Kazuhiko. The abuse she puts him through was cringe worthy on most days. Even so, the older boy never stopped his antics in pissing her off. Naruto wondered if his sister had slammed his head into the desk one too many times.

With the exception of Kazuhiko and two others, the rest of the class included Sasuke, Sakura and a good number of those who kept appearing in his dreams. Could it be a coincidence? What were the chances of his sister picking these specific students to be in her class? Dread returned at the possibility of a future without his sister once more. The future couldn't be set in stone, could it?

Naruto wanted to do something drastic to ensure the future would be completely different from his dreams, but at the same time… he didn't want to lose the Sasuke and Sakura he's grown attached to. If he was to go about the Academy competing with Sakura and Sasuke, there was no way he would be placed in a team with them.

Had Iruka sensei not joined the teaching staff, he might have gotten away with pretending to be an idiot He was like the Dream Iruka, he was attentive and mindful of his students. Naruto was jealous of his dream-self at first because the closeness he shared with Iruka sensei, he knew the possibility of that happening now was slim. He has his Sasa-nee and Seishuu sensei after all. He wouldn't give them up even if Iruka sensei was as great as the one in his dreams.

…Except the man cared too much and told his sister about his efforts to sabotage his own grades.

"Iruka sensei said you are purposely failing your class assignments," confronted Kasa during their walk home. Naruto couldn't hide the guilty flinch to follow. "Can you tell me why he would say this?"

"I… don't know?" said Naruto sheepishly, the lie obvious on his face. "Maybe he's just joking with you."

"Naruto," said his sister calmly.

"I'm not—"

"I'm not angry." She continued. "If you have a reason, I will listen to it. If you have a problem, I will help."

"But you can't!" blurted out Naruto before he clasped his hands over his mouth.

"Why do you think I can't?" frowned Kasa.

"Umm… Umm…" Naruto shuffled uncomfortably, unsure of what excuse to give her. Even if he told her, she wouldn't believe him. If he didn't have these dreams himself, he probably wouldn't believe anyone who tries to do the same.

"I promise, I won't be angry," reassured his sister gently as she knelt down to his eye level, concern was clear on her face and he found himself missing her smile.

"If I do well in class, I won't end up in the same team as Sasuke and Sakura when I graduate," muttered Naruto truthfully as he kept his eyes to his feet. Would she be satisfied with half-truths?

"…What makes you think you'll end up in Sasuke and Sakura's team if you did poorly?" continued Kasa curiously in her line of questioning.

Of course, she wasn't satisfied. Like Iruka sensei, his sister was attentive of her students. Not to mention he wasn't just his student, but also her brother. She probably wouldn't give up so easily. The thought both warmed his heart and made the situation more difficult.

"Um… well…" fumbled Naruto as he did everything to avoid his sister's eyes. If he saw them, he won't be able to lie to her even if they were half-truths. "That's how you ended up in a team with Itachi-ni right? He got the best grades and you got the worst."

"Naruto… Itachi and I weren't on the same team until we became chunin," frowned Kasa.

They weren't? Naruto snapped his attention to his sister. How could that be possible? In his dreams, Iruka sensei always said the reason behind the team formation with Sasuke and Sakura was due to their grades! Was his dreams wrong?

"Eh? But the team allocation—" Naruto bit his own tongue and clasped his hands over his mouth again. No, he got ahead of himself. He couldn't bring up the dreams.

"Under normal circumstances, I would have ended up in Itachi's team, but due to age…" Her frown deepened. "How did you know about the method of team allocation?"

"Um…" Naruto shifted nervously.

"Naruto…" She clasped her hands over his and held them close to her face as though begging him to tell her. The worry on her face was almost painful to look at.

"…Promise… you won't laugh and say I'm lying?" relented Naruto.

"As long as you're not lying, I won't laugh," assured his sister.

He tried to stall for as long as he could by asking her if she was sure in several repetitions. She noticed his attempts and forced him to move on. He reluctantly started to tell her, but then a familiar look of terror crossed her face. The very one he saw in the mirror every morning when he woke from one of his dreams.

His sister… was like him. She could see the future, but compared to him, it seemed like she had more control over what she saw. Concerned about his safety, she whisked him away to a secluded area to explain the dangers of having such dreams and visions. She explained what would happen if others were to find out about what they know. She begged him to let her handle everything to come. The desperation in her eyes, the concern in her hug. She worried about him just as he worried about her.

Stupidly, he agreed to let her handle everything. Within days after his confession, his sister went into a coma that no one could draw her out from. Not Uncle Tesuri, not Ino's dad, not his mom and not even himself. Nothing they did could draw her out of her coma… except for Kakashi.

As much as he hated Kakashi for taking his sister away all those times, he was deeply grateful that he managed to bring her back each and every time. Naruto nearly cried when he saw her again awake and alert with that tired smile of hers. He even got her to promise him she'll get better soon. Unlike Itachi-ni, she always kept her promise.

This time was no different. She kept her promise like always. Unfortunately, the Uchiha Massacre occurred and she found her way back to the hospital barely a week later. While it was not due to her own volition, it still felt as though his sister found a loophole around her promise. The one to blame, should be Shisui-ni, but despite what he did to his Sasa-nee, he couldn't get angry.

He had more important things to worry about… like Sasuke.

Ever since the Uchiha Massacre, his friend began to resemble the Sasuke in his dreams, cold, callous and occasionally heartless. Naruto lost count how many times he woke up with a cold sweat, hand reaching for a non-existent injury in his chest. He refused to believe Sasuke would do something like that to him, but… with how he acted towards everyone else around him… his faith started to wane.

"I don't need your help," said Sasuke darkly to Ino when she tried to share her notes from the classes he missed. "You two-faced romance obsessed waste of space."

"Oi," hissed Naruto with a warning, but before he could voice his thoughts, Sasuke turned to Ino and Sakura with a scowl.

"It's people like you that has no business taking away people and things that doesn't belong to you," spat Sasuke, eyes hateful and furious.

"But I'm just—" protested Ino, but he wouldn't let up.

"You're annoying, a pest and a two-faced bitch," snarled Sasuke. "You probably didn't even take iryo-ninjutsu class because you wanted to be one!"

"Sasuke that's enough!" snapped Naruto. "You're taking this too far!"

"S-Sasuke-kun," whimpered Ino as tears welded in her eyes.

"Get out of my face," hissed Sasuke. "You disgust me."

Ino burst into tears and fled. Sakura, furious at her friend's treatment promptly punched the Uchiha in the face and continued her assault as he insulted both her and Ino.

"Insult her one more time! I dare you!" snapped Sakura as she grabbed Sasuke by the front of his shirt and hauled him up to meet her scowling face. "I don't care if it's your family that sponsored me to return to the Academy, but if you insult my friend one more time, I'll make you regret it! GOT IT!?"

As Sasuke was his best friend, Naruto refrained from interfering. If did so, his friend would take it as a betrayal and close himself off even further. When he saw Sasuke raise a hand towards Sakura, he couldn't hold back any longer.

"You know…" started Naruto with a glare as he gripped onto Sasuke's wrist and pulled him away from the pink-haired girl. "Sakura's right, you're being a big jerk."

"Naruto, what are you—"

"Sakura, nice kick," chirped Naruto with a compliment as he shoved Sasuke aside and turned to the pink-haired girl instead. "Next time, kick harder. That's what Sasa—I mean Kasa sensei, would have wanted."

"O…kay," said Sakura, surprised by his words. No doubt, she expected him to be on Sasuke's side.

"Come on, let's go look for Ino and tell her how much of a jerk Sasuke is," said Naruto as they left Sasuke behind.

He could feel his friend's gaze on his back, but he couldn't tell whether it was out of disbelief or betrayal. Regardless of which, he was still loyal to his friend and as a good friend, he couldn't let him continue to fall.

"Sorry about Sasuke, he's just… having a hard time," explained Naruto as he tried to defend the Uchiha. "It doesn't excuse him for anything but…"

"Why are you apologizing for him? He was the one that said those things, not you," asked Sakura.

"I know, but I don't want him to push everyone away," replied Naruto sheepishly as he tried to play it off as nothing, but he knew better. He knew if he didn't do something, Sasuke might end up just like the one in his dreams, if not worse.

He thought he could make a difference but…

"You want to say that again to my face Uchiha?" snapped Sakura as Ino did her best to pull her back.

"As if I'm scared of you, forehead girl!" retorted Sasuke with Naruto instead to hold him back.

Well… he tried.

"Sasuke! Didn't she kick your ass the other day? Stop pissing her off!" reasoned Naruto, knowing Sasuke was hardheaded enough to turn his attention to him instead of their pink-haired classmate.

"She caught me off guard that time!" snapped Sasuke as he shifted his focus on Naruto instead.

"That's not what it looked like to me," said Naruto offhandedly, inwardly amused that his friend was so predictable and easily manipulated.

"Are you on my side or hers?" growled Sasuke.

"Neither!" said Naruto defensively, arms still locked under Sasuke's to keep him from retaliating. "I'm just saying, she kicked your ass, maybe it's not—Woah!"

Sasuke lifted both legs to shift his entire weight to throw off Naruto's balance. Not expecting the Uchiha's violent movements, the blond found Sasuke flipped him with momentum. The wind was knocked out of his lungs as he landed soundly on his back. By the time he realized Sasuke lost his footing from the throw, he found soft lips smashed against his.

"Pft," giggled Sakura from above.

"Oh my…" gasped Ino right next to her.

Terror crossed Naruto's face as the images from his dreams flashed through his mind. This shouldn't have happened. The circumstances for this wasn't right. It was too early. This shouldn't happen until they donned their hitai-ate. Then… does that mean the future can't be change? Regardless what he did, certain events would still occurred as it did in his dreams?

"No, the future can be changed, the future can change! That didn't happen! THAT DIDN'T COUNT!" screamed Naruto in an incoherent mess before he got up and ran off. "SASUKE DIDN'T JUST KISS ME! SASUKE DIDN'T KISS ME!"

He ran, screaming as he tore through the halls. He won't believe it. He can't believe it! The future wasn't set in stone. Things can be changed, will be changed. His Sasa-nee will wake up one day. Sasuke won't turn into a heartless traitor and plunge his arm through his chest. Naruto wheezed as the air finally ran out in his lungs and he dropped his hands to his knees to catch his breath.

"Naruto!" wheezed Sasuke as he finally caught up with him. "What the hell, you didn't have to…Naruto? Hey, are you okay?"

He wasn't, but he needed to stay strong just like his sister when she had to deal with knowing what's to come. She promised she would change the future for him and despite her current state, she has yet to break a single promise to him. If she could handle this, so could he. Naruto took a deep breath as he buried his face in his hands.

"I-I can't believe you kissed me!" wailed Naruto dramatically. "Now, I can't get married!"

"What the hell!" screamed Sasuke as he threw a punch at him.

"That was my very first—woah!" yelped Naruto as he dodge the kick to follow.

"Of all the things you could've learned from Kasa-nee, why the hell did you learn that!?" snapped Sasuke as he chased after him.

"Nyos, Sasuke-kun you big mean—HAHA! Missed me!" laughed Naruto as he skipped away from each of the Uchiha's attacks.

"Get back here Naruto!" snapped Sasuke.

Sasa-nee was no longer around. It's up to him to make sure nothing goes as the visions predicted. As long he could distract Sasuke and ground him to Konoha, everything will be fine… except Sasuke wasn't the only one that needed to be grounded. There were people he's never met from his dreams. People he needed to find in order to change the fates.

Unfortunately, he won't be able to find most of them until he could leave the village. Aside from Sasuke, there were still a few others who were a cause for worry in Konoha.

"Naruto-kun, could I speak with you for a moment?" asked Mizuki after classes one day.

Like Iruka sensei, Mizuki sensei were one of the many that he recognized from his dreams. Unlike the friendly brown-haired chunin, Naruto felt wary at the sight of his silver-haired sensei. Each time he attended Mizuki's class, he recalled deranged images of the man attacking him or Iruka sensei.

"Um… sure," said Naruto as he tried to keep the wariness out of his voice.

Up until now, he did whatever he could to avoid contact on the off chance the man would attack him like he did in his dreams. His efforts weren't very subtle if the man called him out for it.

"I understand that both you and Sasuke have suffered losses recently. However, if you intend to become a ninja, you must improve your current performance in class… or at least stop pretending to do poorly," commented the man with a stern eye.

"…I'm sorry, what?" said Naruto in confusion, not expecting the current conversation.

"Naruto," sighed the man in exasperation. "I know you're not stupid. Even if you're Kushina sensei's son, I doubt she would allow you to slack off in such a manner."

"…Kushina…sensei?" repeated Naruto in confusion, his eyes shot wide open. "Wait, what?"

It turned out, his mother had tutored Mizuki briefly when the man had taken his chunin exams. She had become village-bound in order to raise and care for Naruto. There weren't many field missions she could take without leaving him for long periods of time. However, because she was a well-regarded jounin, there were still plenty of other things she could do to serve the village.

Tutoring and training potential chunin hopefuls were one of the many duties she up took whenever Naruto was away in the Academy during the day. It never crossed the blond's mind that his mother had anything else to do aside from cooking and chores.

The other startling detail he realized was the possibility of Mizuki sensei turning into the man in his dreams was slim to none. His mother would kick the silver-haired chunin's ass before he could even think about attacking her son, which meant… something changed.

Elation fluttered in Naruto's chest at the thought. If something could be changed, it meant the future wasn't set in stone.

"Naruto, are you listening to me?" sighed Mizuki irritably.

"… Sorry, I am," said Naruto sheepishly.

"Well, are you going to take things seriously? Or do I have to talk to your mother?" frowned the man.

"...I am taking things seriously," said Naruto quietly.

"You don't look like you are," countered Mizuki.

"That's because…" mumbled Naruto uncertain whether he should be honest with the man. A change has occurred, he was certain of it, but could he trust him?

"Because?" repeated Mizuki inquisitively.

Naruto glanced up to him, heart heavy and wary. How did his sister deal with this? How did she know when she could or couldn't trust someone? He lowered his gaze to his hands.

"Naruto?" called out Mizuki, his voice soft as though not to frighten him.

"…I want to be on the same team as Sasuke," answered Naruto quietly as he finally made his decision.

"What does this have to do with—" continued Mizuki.

"Team allocation is done through the class rankings. The worst in the class will be paired with the best in the class," recited Naruto. "Sasuke and Sakura has the best grades in the class right now. If I do any better than I am now, I won't be placed in the same team with Sasuke."

"How did you…" trailed off Mizuki before he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "I see how you're Kushina sensei's son now. Even so, you shouldn't actively sabotage yourself."

"It's not sabotage if I know the subject already," muttered Naruto, not meeting his gaze.

"Not if you're not meeting the minimum requirement to graduate," sighed Mizuki.

Naruto had no intention of improving his grades beyond dead last if it meant he wouldn't be in Sasuke's team. He needed to be on his team and nothing Mizuki could say could make him change his mind.

"Tell you what, let's make a deal," started Mizuki after a moment.

"…A deal?" said Naruto as he cast a suspicious glance at the man.

"If you can score the next three tests the exact percentage I decide on and score an acceptable grade on the retake exams afterwards, I'll make sure you get to keep your dead last position," bargained Mizuki.

"You'll what?" said Naruto in surprise.

"Of course, if you fail any of my requirements, you're not allowed to continue this nonsense," reasoned Mizuki.

"Why… are you helping me?" asked Naruto in confusion.

"You think you're the only person to have tried to do whatever you can to get what you want?" asked Mizuki in amusement.

It never crossed his mind to ask anyone for help. He didn't even realize it was an option. His sister must've relied on someone too. As amazing as he thought of her, even she had her limits. Otherwise, she would still be here instead of a coma.

"Sasa-nee, wake up soon okay?" whispered Naruto quietly during each of his visits to the older girl.

There were so much he wanted to ask her, wanted tell her, but he couldn't risk someone overhearing him. So, he kept quiet and worked with whatever he could under the guise of a dead last academy student. Time and time again, Mizuki sensei told him he could have graduated early, but he refused. He needed to stay to make sure everything was fine.

Little by little, he noticed the subtle changes that differed from his dreams. Some gained a bolster of confidence, some mellowed in personality and everyone changed when it came to connecting with others. In his dreams, the closest person to Naruto was Iruka sensei. Now, the positions were filled by Seishuu and Mizuki sensei.

He cannot say he's sadden at the loss of a connection he would never have with the brown-haired chunin, but he was glad the man was able to share it with Sasuke instead. Be it dream or reality, Iruka sensei had a way to deal with the pain of loss and grief and that was exactly what the Uchiha needed.

For four years, he watched as Iruka sensei made his way into Sasuke's little bubble. Oh, his friend resisted every step of the way, but even he couldn't resist the kindness Iruka sensei exuded. The man genuinely cared for his students and truly wanted the best for them… even if he had to scream at them for it.

"Sasuke, Sakura!" snapped Iruka as he slammed his hand down on the podium to get their attention.

"Iruka sensei! I'm okay with having Naruto in my team, but why the hell does she have to be on it too?" snapped Sasuke as he pointed angrily at their pink-haired teammate.

"Excuse me?" retorted Sakura in return. "That should be my question."

"For the last time, the placements are decided on your grades. You two have the highest grades while Naruto has the worst, now sit down, behave or I'll have a talk with Hokage-sama to revoke your hitai-ate!" roared the chunin.

Naruto fought back a snicker as the two reluctantly fell silent and sat down. Even after all this time, the two of them were always at each other's throats. They usually had a truce when it came to working together in class, but team assignments were a bit different. Unlike class assignments, it wasn't over after you're done. They were stuck with each other until their chunin promotions at least.

"Your jounin sensei will be Obito Uchiha," continued Iruka as he moved onto the next group on the list. "Team Eight, will be Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame. Your sensei will be Mizuki."

"They got Mizuki sensei? No fair!" shouted a number of their fellow graduates.

"Quiet!" snapped Iruka as he herded the rowdy classroom back to order. It still amazed Naruto to watch the man work with such chaos,

"I'm surprise you're not complaining with everyone else Naruto," commented Sakura as she rested her chin on her propped up hand.

"What's there to complain?" chirped Naruto brightly. "I'm just glad I passed."

"Thanks to Mizuki sensei no doubt," retorted Sasuke dryly. "It's a wonder you got this far after he got promoted to a jounin."

Naruto waved off his best friend's jibes with a carefree grin. It would have been nice to get Mizuki as his jounin sensei, Obito wasn't a poor substitute. Though, he probably preferred anyone over Kakashi. As long as the silver-haired jounin wasn't his sensei, it meant the future could be changed. It assured him, nothing was set in stone. Except…

"You're late!" snapped Sasuke as Obito walked into the classroom with a sheepish grin.

"Sorry, I was—" started Obito with his excuses, but was abruptly cut off.

"Cat or old lady this time?" inserted Sasuke in a deadpan before Sakura attempted to smack him upside the head.

"Sasuke! Stop being rude to our sensei!" hissed the pink-haired girl as the Uchiha dodged her attack.

"You have to do better than that to hit me forehead girl," retorted Sasuke.

"Oh really?" challenged Sakura as she hauled a desk over her head and readied to chuck it at her teammate.

"Woah, woah!" shouted Obito as he grabbed the desk out of Sakura's hands. "Let's try not to kill anyone today. You don't want a kill record on you when you go back to the Academy, do you?"

His words brought them to an abrupt stop.

"…What do you mean?" asked Sasuke cautiously. "We passed the exams. Why would we need to go back to the Academy?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" grinned Obito cheerily as he set down the desk. "That exam is to weed out the ones with no potential. This one is to see which one of you will be going back to the Academy. Only two out of you three will pass."

"What!?" snapped Sasuke and Sakura in disbelief.

"You said another exam," interrupted Naruto before the two could start another outburst, "What are we being tested on that's not already on the exam?"

"Survival training," chirped Obito brightly. "Since it's a bit late, how about we push it to tomorrow morning at six? Whoever makes it to training ground three first tomorrow morning, gets bonus points. Okay?"

"But—" protested Sakura.

"Okay! See you there!" continued Obito as he ignored her question and gave a two-finger salute. A whirlwind of leaves gusted through the classroom and the man was suddenly gone.

"That son of a—" growled Sasuke as he darted around Sakura. "Come back here Obito!"

"Come on Naruto, you're working with me. I am not getting stuck on a team with Sasuke!" snapped Sakura as she latched onto Naruto's arm and dragged him along.

"Woah, Sakura wait a sec!" shouted the blond in surprise as he stumbled after her.

If things went as it did in his dreams, Sakura would never favor him over Sasuke. She was more likely to pine over his friend and kick Naruto aside the first chance she got. Although, she did resemble the older Sakura who was willing to kill Sasuke for turning traitor…

Her utter dislike for Sasuke was a cause for concern. If he failed to save Sasuke from his fate, he was certain the pink-haired kunoichi had no qualms in ending his friend. Albeit, she might do it anyway even without an excuse. Naruto fought back a grimace as he stared at her back. He has his work cut out for him.

"Hmm? You look horrible," commented Seishuu sensei when Naruto finally managed to escape from Sakura's meticulous planning session and made his way back to the apartment building.

"Girls are terrifying sensei," sighed Naruto.

"You live with your mother and your sister is the Crimson Terror," commented Seishuu dryly. "One would think you knew this fact already."

"Guess, I'm a bit slow on the uptake," said Naruto sheepishly.

"Let's hope not," scoffed Seishuu as he stepped aside and ushered him in. "Just because you're genin now doesn't mean you get to slack off on calligraphy, hurry up and get started."

"Not quite genin yet, but yes sir!" replied Naruto in good cheer as he did as told.

Calligraphy was a necessary skill if he wish to include seal-work in his arsenal of skills. His sister was never able to create seals of her own and relied on seal stamps created by his mother and another. He could probably get the seal stamps made, but they weren't as versatile as self-made seals.

His dream-self favored the Shadow Clone Jutsu. It served to be a good training and studying apparatus when he decided to replicate on a whim. However, it did little else in expanding his repertoire of skills. Since he needed to maintain his dead last position, he couldn't openly use the Shadow Clone Jutsu. It took him weeks to practice the sleight of hand to make the hand seals for Shadow Clone Jutsu seem like the regular clone jutsu.

Sometimes it was exhausting to hide what he could actually do.

"Naruto! You're late!" snapped Sasuke and Sakura.

…Very exhausting.

"Ehe," laughed Naruto sheepishly as he made his way towards the duo. "Sorry, but look on the bright side, Obito sensei's not here yet either. We could probably all get bonus points since we got here before him."

"That's not the point!" snapped the two.

"True," agreed Naruto with an awkward grin. "It's kind of pointless for me to be here since it's obvious you two are going to be chosen out of the three of us, better grades and all. I guess it was too good to be true to pass by the skin of my teeth."

"…Naruto," murmured Sasuke and Sakura as their anger melted away, replaced by guilt.

"It's okay, you guys definitely deserve to become genin. I'd probably just drag either one of you down if I ended up on the team, It sucks, but hey, at least celebrate with you guys afterwards right?" chirped Naruto brightly.

"No," said Sakura firmly.

"Eh?" said Naruto in surprise when he noticed at the anger back on her face. "Ah… We don't have to if you don't—"

"You're not a drag," huffed Sakura as she propped a hand on her hip and nodded her head towards Sasuke. "And I would rather have you as my teammate instead of him."

"Hmph," scoffed Sasuke as he crossed his arms. "If you end up back in the Academy Naruto, I rather join you there instead of being stuck on a team with her."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, speechless by their words. He intended to entice the two of them to work together for the secret exam by making them think he gave up, but he never expected them to favor him in such a light. It made his heart flutter in both joy and embarrassment. Unsure what else to say, a soft chuckle escaped his lips as he did his best to regain his composure.

"Man, I never thought I'd get a love confession from someone, much less two people on the same day," joked Naruto. "Who would've thought?"

"What!? That wasn't a confession!" shouted the two, face red either through anger or embarrassment.

"Nah, you both totally love me!" declared Naruto boldly.

"Who loves Naruto?" Obito's sudden query drew their attention away from their conversation and towards the source of his voice.

"Obito sensei!" shouted Sakura in surprise when she noticed the jounin on the tree branch above them.

"Yo! Good morning!" greeted the one-eyed Uchiha brightly.

"It's afternoon you asshole!" snapped Sasuke in turn.

"Tsk, tsk, language Sasuke," said Obito with a waggle of his finger. "What would your brother say if he heard your potty mouth?"

"Kill it with fire," retorted Sasuke with a scowl. "Six am my ass, I should've known you would be late."

"My, my, someone's angry today," chirped Obito as he jumped off from the branch and landed lightly in front of them. "Whelp, since you all made it here before me, you all get bonus points."

"Um… if you don't mind me asking Obito sensei, how exactly are you testing us?" asked Sakura with a frown.

"Simple," said Obito as he pulled out a pair of bells from his pockets and dangled them on his fingers by the string. "Whoever can snatch one of these bells from me will pass. Anyone who can't, fails."

"Then what's the purpose of the bonus points?" asked Naruto in confusion.

"Lunch," replied Obito as he pulled out two bento boxes. "Though… I didn't expect to get here this late and give all three of you bonus points so… Yeah."

"…Sensei, you're really bad at planning," commented Sakura bluntly.

"Anyway!" continued Obito with a beat as he made his way towards a tree stump to set down the bentos and an alarm clock. "You have until the alarm rings to get the bell off me. You may use any method to do so, including weapons and jutsus, but if I catch any of you, I'm trying to you these stumps here."

_But sensei!_

Naruto blinked rapidly as a different image of Sakura superimposed itself over his pink-haired teammate and an image of Kakashi imposed itself over Obito. He found his breath hitch as it played almost identical to one another. What was going on? He thought things changed, why was it… His eyes darted to Sasuke, who charged at Obito with a glowing hand.

"Sasuke!" shouted Naruto in alarm as an image of his dream-self imposed over Sasuke as the Uchiha charged at their jounin sensei.

"I didn't say start yet Sasuke," noted Obito in good cheer as he caught the younger Uchiha's glowing hand by the wrist and twisted it to the boy's face. "Though, I am a bit concern that you're trying to replicate Kasa's signature move on your own. Since you cared little of your brother's thoughts about your potty mouth. I wonder what she'd think if she knew you're being this reckless."

Sasuke said nothing as he glared up at the older Uchiha.

"Heh, thought as much," said Obito in amusement as he released Sasuke's arm and took a step back. "Well, time's a wasting. On your mark, get… Go!"

At his declaration, both Sasuke and Sakura disappeared into the foliage. Naruto, on the other hand, stilled at the sudden plague of overlaying images and voices of their dream counterparts. His breath caught at his throat as he tried to will them away. This wasn't the first time the dream world overlaid itself while he was awake.

Normally, it lasted for seconds at a time, but now? It went over a minute. What the hell was going on? It was never this bad in the past.

"You're a bit off," said Obito with an odd look, mirrored by the Dream Kakashi overlaid on him.

"…A bit," agreed Naruto as he shook away the dialogue shouted by his dream-self in the background.

He clenched his shaking hands as the voices in the overlay grew louder and louder as it vied for his attention. It was okay, he reminded himself. This overlay meant nothing. Everything would be—

"If you still want to hide, I can close my eyes and wait," offered Obito jokingly and suddenly everything stopped.

Naruto blinked in surprise as he let out a shaking breath he didn't know he held. The overlay was gone. Dream Kakashi was gone from Obito's form and there were no other sounds around them save for the ones part of their surroundings.

"Naruto?" called out Obito with a frown when he didn't respond.

He took a relieved breath as he gathered his stray thoughts and refocused. The overlay meant nothing. The future was not set in stone, change was still possible. He would make certain of it.

"Nah, I'll take you on," said Naruto airily with a content smile. "After all, I can't be hokage if I can't even make genin."

"Hokage huh?" grinned Obito. "Let's see what you can do, brat."

"Bring it!" challenged Naruto as he pulled out smoke bombs from his back pouch and launched them into the air.

In seconds, the open field was clouded in smoke and Naruto used the diversion to create several shadow clones and disperse them throughout the field to set up traps and hide in preparation for an ambush.

A glaring difference between Naruto and his dream-self was their fighting style. The dream version relied on unconventional tactics and brute force brawls to get through his fights. While Naruto gave into the whim from time to time to improvise on the spot like his dream-self, he preferred a slightly more analytical approach. Unlike his dream-self who charged head first into every situation blind, he had foresight and couldn't afford the luxury of reckless action.

From his experience in sparring with Sasuke, the sharingan worked off on seeing the target's chakra. A smoke bomb like this did little to hide him, but he banked on his dead last ranking and Obito's obvious dismissal of Team Seven's abilities to make it work. Even if it didn't, he still had the Shadow Clone Jutsu to fall back on. No one knew he could use it after all.

"I thought you weren't going to hide," called out Obito from the depth of the smoke.

"Never said I wouldn't!" retorted one of Naruto's clones in the opposite direction.

"You know, it's not very smart to answer if you're hiding," noted Obito before his clone screamed.

Naruto grimaced over his clone's fate. He didn't get any memories from it yet, which meant it was still in play against Obito. He made haste towards the foliage where Sasuke and Sakura hid. The time he bought was limited, he needed to get to the two and convince them to work together. A daunting task since neither of them liked each other. In times like these, he wished he had his dream-self's odd ability force people to get along.

"Yo, Sasuke," whispered Naruto as he popped up behind his best friend.

"Naruto!" hissed Sasuke in surprise as he jumped around to face him. "I thought you're out there facing Obito, how are you here?"

"Never mind that, we need to find Sakura," interrupted Naruto.

"What? Why?" frowned Sasuke.

"Haven't you found the answer yet?" asked Naruto with a tilt of his head.

"What answer?" asked Sasuke in confusion.

"It's—" Naruto bit back a scream as memories from his defeated clone returned to him.

"Naruto?" asked Sasuke.

"Son of a—" hissed Naruto as he shook off the memories of being impaled by the dreaded Thousand Years of Pain.

"What's wrong?" asked Sasuke as he hovered over him in concern.

"Do you trust me?" cut in Naruto as he recomposed himself. He no longer had the luxury to take his time to convince Sasuke. By now, Obito would realize what he took out was a shadow clone and it won't be long before he comes after him.

"What's going on? I don't understand why you're—"

"Do you trust me?" snapped Naruto. "I don't have time to explain now, we need to get to Sakura before Obito gets to us."

"…Yes, I trust you," grounded Sasuke as he pointed an irritated finger at him. "But you're explaining this after everything over,"

"Good, let's go!" said Naruto as he dashed off.

"So, how are we going to find Sakura?" asked Sasuke as he trailed closely behind him.

"She's…" Naruto paused for a second as memories from the clone in charge of convincing Sakura rushed back to him. "Ten o'clock position, this way."

"How do you even know—hey wait up!" growled Sasuke as he chased after the blond.

Naruto gritted his teeth when he felt another clone disappear. Obito was systematically destroying one after another. It won't be long before he gets to them. They needed to get to Sakura and fast.

"Sakura!" called out Naruto the moment he recognized the foliage from his clone's memories.

"Over here!" responded Sakura as she popped out from her hiding spot.

"Did you manage to set everything up?" asked Naruto once he and Sasuke made it to her.

"Are you sure it's going to work?" asked Sakura with a frown.

"We'll see," said Naruto with a forced grin.

"What's the plan?" asked Sasuke, annoyed by the fact he was still in the dark about what they're doing.

"Remember what Sa—Kasa sensei used to do to Kazuhiko when he pissed her off in class?" corrected Naruto halfway through his question.

"You mean…" Sasuke's eyes widened. "When did you learn how to make that seal?"

"Work in progress," replied Naruto sheepishly. "It might explode if it doesn't work, but it should be a good enough distraction even if it does blow up."

"…You're using an untested seal on Obito sensei?" said Sakura in disbelief.

"It'll give you guys a chance to go in and knock him out with the defibrillation jutsu," replied Naruto cheekily.

"Would he even fall for that?" noted Sasuke with a raised brow.

"Do you have a better plan?" countered Naruto. "You're so wrapped up in trying to kill Obito, did you forget he's a jounin? Or the fact of what jounins are capable of doing?"

"… Fine, we'll use your plan," grumbled Sasuke.

"What do you have against Obito sensei anyway?" asked Sakura in confusion.

"He's angry at me for preventing him from graduating early," chirped Obito brightly before the three of them turned about in alarm.

"When did he get here?" Sasuke held out a kunai defensively, but the jounin was nowhere in sight.

"Where is he?" frowned Sakura as her eyes darted frantically in search for the man.

"You guys are looking in the wrong place," shouted Naruto as he shoved the two of them aside, a hand darted out from the ground and grabbed Naruto by the ankle.

"I got you!" sang Obito cheerily.

"Naruto!" shouted Sakura and Sasuke.

Alarm crossed both their faces at the sudden appearance of Obito's hand. Naruto let out a startle shout as the world around him suddenly disappeared and he found himself in Obito's full grip.

"So, dead last hmm?" commented Obito cheerily once they resurfaced above ground and Naruto suddenly found himself tied to a stump. "Either the Academy standards has gone up quite a bit since I was there last or you've managed to live up to Kushina-san's name and pulled the best prank over all your senseis."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" squirmed Naruto as he tried to wiggle out of the Uchiha's grasp.

"Deny all you want," said Obito cheerily before his voice dropped to a low baritone tone. "But I know you remember, Naruto."

"…What?" Naruto froze at his words.

"Think about it," whispered Obito. "Shadow Clone Jutsu isn't taught in the Academy."

"I—" started Naruto, but he never finished.

"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" shouted Sasuke from above.

"Woah!" shouted Obito before he swapped a log in their place with Naruto in tow. "Careful there Sasuke, you almost fried Naruto."

"Lightning Release: Defibrillation!" shouted Sakura as she appeared behind Obito and attempted to slam her hands into his back.

"Whoops," laughed Obito as he twisted away from her touch. "Missed me."

"Let him go!" snarled Sasuke as he glowered at the older Uchiha.

"I think you're missing the point here," commented Obito. "There's not much time left before the exam is over. Are you sure you want to waste that time freeing Naruto? You're going to have to wait a whole semester before you could take the exam again."

"Screw you and your exam!" growled Sasuke. "You never had the intention to pass us!"

"Oh?" mused Obito. "What makes you say that?"

"Three Academy graduates vs one jounin," started Sakura with a frown. "Even if we worked together, it's unlikely we would have gotten the bells off you. If by some luck we managed to take a single one off you, we would be quarreling to see who would pass and you'd use that as a chance to destroy us."

"Good job in figuring it out," grinned Obito. "What are you going to do about it now?"

"Since you're not going to pass us either way, we're not going to play your game," snapped Sasuke. "Stop wasting our time and let Naruto go!"

"And what if I want to keep playing? What are you going to do about it?" goaded Obito.

"You!" snarled Sasuke before Sakura place a hand on his shoulder.

"Then we return to the Academy and report you for harassment," continued Sakura, eyes steeled and icy. "Even if you're a jounin you can't—"

"I will pass the two of you if you beat Naruto senseless," chirped Obito.

The two fell silent with disbelief across their face.

"I'll even hold him in place so he can't fight back," continued the one-eyed jounin.

"What?" growled Sasuke, his eyes flashing red with the sharingan. "If you think I would do that to Naruto than you better think again! I would rather go back to the Academy for another year than to be a genin under you!"

"Mm hmm," hummed Obito as he turned to Sakura with a disarming smile. "And you Sakura?"

The pink-haired kunoichi frowned as she looked between the jounin and her two fellow Academy graduates. Naruto wanted to call out to them, but Obito's grip on his tightened in warning.

"Obito sensei, I admit I don't exactly get along with Sasuke and I barely even know Naruto, but…" started Sakura before her green eyes turned completely frigid. "We're all a part of Konoha. I don't have to like either of them, but I'm not about to hurt them just to advance to genin. As a healer, this goes against everything we stand for. I will not hurt my allies."

"Is that your final answer?" asked Obito, the humor finally gone from his face.

Sasuke and Sakura said nothing else, their faces resolute in their decision.

"What do you think of that answer, Naruto?" asked Obito as he turned to the blond, a strange glint in his eyes. "Those who abandon their missions are…?"

"Trash," flinched Naruto as he unconsciously continued the familiar line. Terror crossed his face as he stared up at Obito. He knew. The one-eyed jounin knew of his foresight.

"And those who abandon their comrades?" continued Obito, his gaze steady and unreadable.

Should he answer? Should he not? Naruto swallowed, desperate to get rid of the lump in his throat. The overlay started again. Dream Kakashi began his spiel about losing comrades and the KIA memorial stone.

"Are worse than trash!" snapped Sasuke as he drove a fist at Obito.

"…Sasuke," whispered Naruto in surprise as the jounin shifted and caught the younger Uchiha's attack easily.

"I don't know what sort of genjutsu you're putting him under, but enough is enough!" snarled Sasuke as he fought to pull his fist out of Obito's grip. "You've had your fun, stop fucking around and fail us already so we could be on our way."

"Mm," hummed Obito in amusement. "I don't think I will."

"You can't keep us forever." said Sakura with furrowed brows.

"Of course not," chirped Obito. "But I think I could keep you three until you've turned chunin at least."

Anger turned to confusion as the three looked to the smiling jounin.

"You mean…" started Sakura hesitantly.

"Congratulations!" cheered Obito before he let out an exasperated sigh. "I was so worried you three wouldn't get the point of the test but you passed with flying colors!"

"…What?" frowned Sasuke.

"You know… teamwork?" said Obito, worry slipped onto his face. "You guys did get that was the point of the exam right?"

"At what point was this exam about teamwork?" snapped Sasuke.

"You guys didn't get it!?" shouted Obito in disbelief. "Then why the hell did you guys work together?"

Sakura and Sasuke shared a look before crossing their arms.

"Because you were an asshole," said the two in unison.

"What!?" screeched Obito before he turned to Naruto. "You got it though right, Naruto?"

"I…" Naruto started with uncertainty. The jounin's voice was absurdly childish, but the look he gave Naruto told a different story. Not only did the man knew about his foresight, he knew what Naruto was doing with it.

"That's why you offered to give up the chance to pass so they would work together," continued Obito. "To make sure everything happens for the better, right?"

…And he was okay with it.

Naruto wasn't sure should he be happy or relieved by the revelation. However, with Sasuke and Sakura present, he couldn't delve deeper into the matter. It was something he needed to talk to Obito privately away from them.

"Ah… So the test is about teamwork," said Naruto as he feigned amazement. "Lucky! I really thought I was going to have to retake the exam again next time."

"You were really going to give up?" said Sasuke in disbelief. "I thought you said you had a plan!"

"Yep!" chirped Naruto. "I planned to give up!"

"That's not a plan you idiot!" snapped Sasuke as he hauled him out of Obito's grip.

"But Sasuke, everything worked out," whined Naruto as he allowed his friend to manhandle him.

"You were going to abandon me with Obito and Sakura! SAKURA!" screamed Sasuke as he shook the blond.

"Hey!" snapped their pink-haired teammate. "Don't make it sound like I want to be on the same team with you Uchiha!"

"You don't get to talk! You listened to him!" accused Sasuke.

"If I didn't, he wouldn't work with me," countered Sakura. "I have every intention of swiping the bells and have him pass with me instead of you."

"Now, now, stop squabbling. Since you're stuck with each other anyway, why don't we try to get along hmm?" said Obito as he tried to break up the two before a fight started.

Naruto watched in quiet amusement. Things were similar, but different. He could work with this.

…Or so he thought.

"Who's the midget?" hiccupped a familiar face at the mission office.

After several rounds of D-ranked missions, Obito had finally decided to allow them to tackle C-ranks. Naruto wasn't sure if the man believed they could handle the mission or if he had finally snapped from Sasuke and Sakura's bickering. While Naruto and Sasuke's dream counterparts did the same, neither of them had medical jutsus at their disposal to incapacitate one another.

Whatever fears Naruto may have had of Obito at the discovery of his foresight was all but forgotten. The man hadn't confronted him about his foresight beyond their exchange during the genin exam and Naruto was glad to leave it be. It seemed Obito was willing to let him do as he pleased. He had no clue why, but the former Uchiha made it clear he supported him by distracting Sasuke and Sakura whenever they grew suspicious of his actions.

"Team Seven will be escorting Tazuna-san back to Wave," explained Iruka as he gave them their mission briefing.

Naruto allowed his gaze to linger briefly on Tazuna. There weren't many dream snippets that involved the drunken old bridge builder. What little Naruto could recall consisted of a crying little boy, a girly looking boy and blood… lots and lots of blood.

"Everything okay?" asked Obito as he planted a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"…This isn't a C-ranked mission," murmured Naruto quietly.

"Noted," commented Obito offhandedly, eye half-lidded and posture relaxed.

If Naruto didn't know better, he would have thought his jounin sensei careless, but the man was far from it. Despite his friendly countenance, he took caution in every movement around them. Sasuke and Sakura were no different. Any disputes they may have had before they left the village was placed aside for the sake of the mission.

The whole ordeal felt oddly cold and distant… or it might have been the chakra saturated mist in the air.

"Down!" ordered Obito as he pushed Naruto to the ground protectively.

Sakura did the same to Tazuna while Sasuke dropped down in a defensive stance in front of them. The sound of chains chimed as it shot over their heads and wrapped around the one-eyed jounin.

"Obito!" shouted Naruto in worry as an overlay of Kakashi appeared over the Uchiha. However, unlike the other times the image disappeared almost as soon as it appeared.

"Stay down!" commanded Obito before a violent hiss ripped through the air and indicated another weapon coming into play.

Naruto watched in horror as the blade cleaved through the former Uchiha cleanly and impaled itself in the tree some distance behind them. In an instant, Obito's body dropped to the ground like a deadweight. Neither Naruto nor his two other teammates could find their voice as they stared up at the blade that took their sensei. This couldn't be happening.

"How disappointing," droned a low raspy voice as the chains jingled once more and pulled away from Obito's unmoving body. "And here I thought he would put up more of a fight."

"Obito sensei!" screamed Sakura in shock as she stared wide-eyed at their jounin sensei's fallen form.

"Obito," whispered Sasuke in shocked disbelief before anger took over. He stood from his defensive stance furiously as he glared into the shrouding mist around them. "Show yourselves you cowards."

"Hmph, cowards?" drawled an amused baritone. "Bold words coming from a child playing ninja. Konoha's standards must have dropped in the recent years. "

The trio snapped their attention to the tree where the ginormous blade was impaled. Atop the blade stood a muscular man, face masked by bandages. His back faced them as though he didn't perceive them as a threat.

"Who are you?" demanded Sasuke.

"Shows how inexperienced you brats are if you can't even recognize Zabuza-san!" scoffed the chain user as he appeared to retrieve his chain.

 _Zabuza Momochi, demon of the mist._ Naruto shook his head as the dreams vocalized itself. Not now, he can't have these now!

"Oh? Looks like one of them is scared out of their wits," chuckled Zabuza, his voice drew alarm as Naruto hastily forced the images away. "I guess you're going first, but don't worry, your friends will follow soon after."

Naruto had mere seconds to roll out of the way as the giant blade came down on him. His body reacted on its own and made five Shadow Clones to distract the missing-nin. He could faintly hear Sakura scream for him before he heard the sound of chains ring through the air again and looped around him.

"Shit," muttered Naruto under his breath.

"Naruto, get down!" shouted Sasuke as he tackled the blond to the ground.  
"Thanks," grunted the blond as he pushed himself from the ground.

"Not the time to space out," chided Sasuke as he stood in defense. "Sakura, how's Tazuna?"

"I got him!" shouted back the pink-haired girl.

"What a mess," growled Sasuke under his breath.

"A fan crest…Now where have I've seen that?" mused Zabuza idly at the clan symbol on the back of Sasuke's shirt. "Oh right, that punk Itachi Uchiha wore the same crest when he was in Kiri."

"My brother?" said Sasuke, startled by the mention of Itachi's name.

"It must be difficult to live in his shadow," chuckled Zabuza.

"I know you're not here to talk to me about my brother," cut off Sasuke irritably. "What business do you have with us?"

"Don't flatter yourself boy," scoffed Zabuza. "We're here for the old man. Gato's placed a hefty price for his head."

"What?" whispered Sakura in disbelief as she glanced to Tazuna. "You lied about the mission ranking?"

"There was no way I could possibly afford a higher ranked mission. I was the last hope my village had," murmured the old bridge-builder as he averted his eyes from her, ashamed. "I'm sorry."

"It's obvious you brats are still wet behind the ears, I bet you haven't even gotten your first kill yet," mocked the chain-user.

"Why you—" started Sasuke, but Naruto kept a firm hand on the Uchiha's shoulder to keep him from charging forward. "Naruto what are you—"

"Gato's not going to pay you," spoke up Naruto at last, unable to keep silent anymore. "You can kill us. You can kill Tazuna, but he's not going to pay you."

"Oh?" droned Zabuza.

"If you continue as you are now, the only thing that will await you is death," stated Naruto.

"Is that a threat?" challenged the bandaged man.

"It's a fact," answered Naruto.

"Arrogant little shit," growled the man with the chains. "Zabuza-san, why don't I—"

"Hmph," scoffed Zabuza before the man bellowed with a dark laugh. With the exception of Naruto, everyone else present fell silent, startled by the missing-nin's sudden amusement. "You've got guts kid. What's your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki," answered the blond boldly.

"Uzumaki, huh?" chuckled Zabuza. "Since you've amused me, I'm feeling generous. Give me the old man and I'll consider letting you live."

"Zabuza-san!" protested his underling.

"No," refused Naruto.

"And you think you can stop me?" chuckled Zabuza. "What can a bunch of genin brats like you do without your jounin sensei?"

"Good question, I like to know the answer to that too," came Obito's disembodied voice.

"What?" said Zabuza in surprise before a foot appeared out of nowhere and kicked him off his sword. The missing-nin twisted his body to latch a hand onto the blade's long grip, but another kicked followed, knocking both him and the sword away from the tree it was embedded in.

"Zabuza-san!" shouted the other man, but he two was knocked aside with ease.

"Sensei?" said Sakura in confusion as she glanced about. The man was nowhere to be seen.

"One would think you'd have better manners Zabuza," said Obito smoothly as he materialized out of thin air. "It's not nice to kill someone's sensei in front of their eyes."

"Phantom Obito…" scoffed Zabuza as he regained his bearings and glared at the Uchiha before him. "I thought it was strange you died so easily."

"Obito!" shouted Sasuke in relief before it turned into anger. "What the hell? You left us alone!"

"Yo!" greeted the one-eyed Uchiha brightly with a wave. "Sorry, I thought I forgot to turn off the stove in my apartment, so I drop back to check, but it turned out I remembered after all."

"LIAR!" screamed both Sakura and Sasuke.

A relieved sigh escaped Naruto at the sight of their jounin sensei, but it was too early to relax. Compared to what he's seen in his dreams, the fight between Zabuza and Obito differed greatly from the one with Kakashi as his sensei. For one, there was a whole lot less of psychological attacks and more…

"Stand still you fucker!" snapped Zabuza furiously as he swung his sword at the Uchiha.

"Even if I stand still you can't hit me!" laughed Obito as the blade went right through his body.

"Obito, quit toying with him and get it over with already!" shouted Sasuke as he finished securing the unconscious underling that was knocked out earlier.

"…Something's not right," muttered Naruto as he watched the fight with a frown.

"What do you mean?" asked Sakura as she helped Tazuna closer to Naruto and Sasuke. "And what the hell was that earlier? Were you buying time for Obito sensei? Did you know sensei was okay?"

He ignored Sakura's questions as he looked about. Obito and Zabuza's fight was utterly one-sided. The missing-nin couldn't possibly be this weak, but that would mean he had something up his sleeve… if he had sleeves. Naruto shook his head at the technicality as he tried to force himself to recall more of his dreams. Something was missing, but what? Think!

"Come on, can't we talk about this?" teased Obito light-heartedly as he dodge another swipe from Zabuza's water clone. Even with two on one, he was still holding his own against the man.

"Enough!" growled Zabuza. "I've had enough of your—"

Two senbons buried itself into Zabuza's neck and the man crumpled to the ground in a lifeless heap. Two young masked figures dropped down from the trees, donned in the clothing of Kiri's hunter-nin division. One had chin-length light blue hair and the other black tied up in a bun. Naruto's eyes narrowed, this seemed right, but again it was also wrong. Were there two in his dreams?

"Our gratitude for distracting Zabuza," said the taller duo, voice soft and even. "We've been tracking him for quite some time."

"Is that so?" noted Obito airily as he slipped into a casual stance from his offensive one. "The two of you are rather young to be hunter-nins."

"As I recall, Konoha has a number of young prodigies in their midst as well," replied the other without a beat.

"You got us there," said Obito pleasantly as he gave a theatric wave. "They're all yours."

"Much thanks," bowed the hunter-nin as he nodded for his shorter companion to retrieve the one by Sasuke.

"We'll take it from here," said the blue-haired nin, a smile could be heard through his words behind his mask. Unlike his dark-haired companion, he lacked the professionalism in his voice.

Sasuke didn't look convinced, a stern look from Obito made him back away without a word. Sakura shared the same skepticism as her teammate, but said nothing as she stayed vigilant and protective of their client. Naruto, however, did not.

"Well then, we shall take our—" started the dark-haired hunter, but was abruptly cut off.

"Wait!" shouted Naruto as he ran in front of them. "Neither of you are hunter-nins and nor is Zabuza dead! This is a farce!"

"Naruto!" shouted Obito, but he was too late. Both hunter-nins placed their hands on the ground.

Water raced across the ground before it shot into giant shards of ice. Naruto clenched his eyes close and braced himself for the pain to come from getting skewered by ice… but it never came. Alarmed, the blond opened his eyes and found himself in a strange dark world. Worried he searched about for his teammates, but they were nowhere to be found.

"Sasuke! Sakura!" shouted Naruto, but no one answered. He turned again in search for Obito, but couldn't find the jounin either. Where did they go? Did Zabuza's men— "Ngh!"

The blond didn't have time to react as a forceful hand wrapped itself around Naruto's neck and slammed him into the ground. Shakily, he reached up to pry at the hand that held him, but paused when he saw whose hand it was.

"O-Obito?" strained Naruto as he stared at the cold-faced man.

"Have you finally woken up?" spoke the Uchiha quietly, his eye red with a single sharingan.

"W-what are you—Ngh!" choked Naruto as the older shinobi tightened his grip.

"Come now, you remember Zabuza and his little flunkies, surely you remember me by now, don't you?" asked Obito, his voice low and dangerous.

"Why are you doing this?" coughed Naruto as he dug his fingers into Obito's, struggling fruitlessly to pry the other off his throat.

"Maybe this will help you remember," sighed Obito before his voice changed to a higher pitch and goofier tone. "Hi! I'm Tobi and I'm here to end your world."

"To…bi?" rasped Naruto, his body froze at the name as he stared up at the Uchiha with wide eyes.

"Ah, so you do recognize me. Good," noted Tobi as his voice returned to normal and he released his grip on Naruto's neck.

The blond fell to the ground in a coughing fit as he scrambled to distance himself from his assailant. How was this possible? Tobi shouldn't exist here. Whatever happened in the Dream World didn't happen here. The Obito he knew was always kind if a bit silly, nothing like the person before him. Was that all an act?

No.

Blue eyes narrowed as Naruto pushed himself to his feet. It wasn't an act. This wasn't the same Obito he knew. This was the dream version, but the question remains, how was he here?

"Where is Sasuke and Sakura?" demanded Naruto as he glared at the older man.

"Safe," replied Tobi bluntly. "Obito's with them outside of Kamui's subspace."

"With Obito?" said Naruto in surprise. "Then you're..."

"A parasite of sorts," explained Tobi with a nonchalant wave. "We—no, I am the result of a poorly executed time travel attempt. You, I thought would be the same, but it seemed like I only brought pieces of you back instead of a whole. A blessing I suppose, since you won't have to live a parasitic life like me."

"I don't understand," frowned Naruto. "Are you… helping me or against me?"

"What do you think?" asked Tobi.

"I don't know!" snapped Naruto. "The Tobi in my dreams did nothing but hurt the people I care about! And here you are claiming to be him! What am I supposed to think? All this time I thought they were just dreams! Precognition just like what Sasa-nee sees! But you're telling me all of that was real and it happened before? Stop messing with me!"

"I'm righting a wrong I did to you and the world," countered Tobi.

"And what exactly have you done?" snapped Naruto. "From what I've seen, nothing much changed! My dad's still dead. Sasuke still lost most of his clan and what worse, Konoha's is still at war with Kiri and Kumo! How is this any better?"

"At least Madara's not in control of the world and you're not dead!" snapped Tobi in response.

"…What?" said Naruto in confusion.

"Madara won. You died in my original timeline," groused Tobi. "I sacrificed the rinnegan to travel back and grab you before it happened and then sacrificed the sharingan to bring us further back. This was supposed to be a second a chance. A chance to fix everything! Unfortunately, I miscalculated and lost you in the process."

Naruto fell silent, unsure how to respond to his words.

"At first, I thought everything was doomed to repeat," continued Tobi.

"…But it didn't," frowned Naruto.

"No," agreed Tobi. "Things were different. Kasa didn't exist in the previous timeline. My guess, she probably died because Obito was taken by Zetsu before he met her. Even so, her oracle abilities threw me in a loop. With how active she tried to change major events, I was convinced maybe somehow you ended up a parasite as well."

"…And she paid for it, didn't she?" murmured Naruto quietly.

"Unfortunately," agreed Tobi solemnly.

"It's not fair," muttered Naruto.

"Life is never fair," reasoned Tobi.

"Guess not," muttered Naruto as he glanced up to the Uchiha. "What now?"

"Between the two of us, we have an ample amount of foreknowledge of what's to come. However, you're probably noticed that nothing is exactly the same as before," noted Tobi.

"Like the fight with Zabuza," confirmed Naruto with a solemn nod. "But if that's the case, could things still change? Despite the differences, this encounter still happened. Does that mean he and Haku are doomed to die?"

"It depends," continued Tobi.

"On what?" asked Naruto.

"A number of factors," stated the time-traveler grimly. "Even now, I can't pinpoint what exactly could be changed and what cannot. By all counts, the Kyubi attack should not have happened this time around because Obito's fate was changed, but it did. However, there are incidences where Rin and Kushina were saved despite the circumstances."

"In other words, it's blind luck whether or not we could save someone," grumbled Naruto.

"Would you rather we have no choice whatsoever?" counter Tobi.

"No," sighed Naruto. "I still want to prevent Zabuza and Haku's deaths if possible. The way they died last time… it was just too sad."

"I'll see what I could do," offered Tobi. "But for now, we should probably get back to your team. No doubt your teammates are probably freaking out at your disappearance."

"Heh," chuckled Naruto as he pushed himself off the ground. "Guess so."

"Before we go," interrupted Tobi. "Have you tried speaking with Kyubi yet?"

"…No, I haven't," replied the blond quietly.

"Any particular reason why?" asked Tobi.

Naruto fell silent.

"None of my business I suppose," said Tobi as he raised a hand to open a portal out of Kamui. "But, it might be to your benefit to try to get him on your side early."

When they returned, both Sasuke and Sakura bombarded him with rage and worry. They thought the two faux hunter-nin had kidnapped him when they took Zabuza and the chain user in retreat. While he was gone, Obito had interrogated Tazuna thoroughly and given the team an option to whether or not they wanted to continue the mission.

Most heart-warming, Sasuke and Sakura had agreed immediately thinking that the missing-nins had a hold of Naruto. Of course, when he returned safe and sound, they decided to continue with the mission anyway. After hearing the state of what Wave was in, they decided it was a good opportunity to flex their both their iryo-ninjutsu and combat abilities. The two aimed to enter the combat medic division after all.

Wave seemed more or less the same as what he saw in his dreams. The difference, Team Seven didn't require the chakra control training as they did before. With both Sasuke and Sakura trained in iryo-ninjutsu, their chakra control were already near perfect. Naruto not to fall behind had practiced on his own while they were busy with the iryo-ninjutsu practical.

Another difference, he didn't encounter Haku this time around despite trying to purposely run into the ice-user. A disappointment since he dearly wanted to use the chance to convince him to not throw away his life this time around. However, the sentiment was quickly forgotten the day at the bridge.

"SASUKE!" screamed Sakura when Haku froze the water prison Sasuke was trapped in.

"Whoops," laughed the blue-haired water user. "Looks like it's over for pretty boy—"

"Shut up!" snarled Sakura as she punched the blue-haired ninja, but instead of recoiling from her punch, he stood there with her arm plunged deep into his water-like body.

"Silly girl you think a measly punch could—GAH!" screamed blue-haired ninja as Sakura let out a defibrillation jutsu inside his body.

"Shut up!" screamed the girl as she continued to pulverize him with a layer of lightning release coating her fists.

Zabuza could be heard further down the bridge cursing at Obito as they continued their previous fight in the forest. However, Naruto heard none of it as he stood stunned to the sight of Sasuke, skewered by senbons and encase in ice, eyes wide and hand outreached as if he was a morbid ice statue.

"My apologies," said the ice user before him.

Naruto felt a violent pulse echo through his chest painfully. What happened next was a red blur of unadulterated rage and destruction. All Naruto could recall was the demonic red chakra and the hot anger that enveloped him. It felt like he was going to get lost in the sea of red, but then a gentle hand reached out and grabbed him before he could be completely lost.

"Woah, you're getting a little ahead of yourself there," said a familiar voice before the red faded and Naruto found himself standing knee-deep in water in front of a giant cage.

"W-what? Where am…I?" said Naruto in confusion as when he noticed the person holding his wrist.

"Yo, little me!" greeted what seemed like an older version of…himself?

"…Hello?" said Naruto in confusion as he stared up at the taller blond.

"Hmph, whether younger or older, you're still an idiot," rumbled a deep and dark voice behind them. Naruto jumped at glanced up at the giant fox lazing about with its head resting on his front legs.

"K-Kyubi," whispered Naruto in surprise as he took a step back. This was the first time he saw the demon up close. However, before he could take more than two steps, his older-self placed a firm reassuring hand on his shoulder and kept him in place.

"Don't mind him little me, he's just a grumpy old fart," grinned the older blond.

"Open up the seal and I'll show you who's grumpy you little brat!" roared Kurama as he lashed out at the cage.

"You're just saying that," teased the older Naruto.

"…Should you really keep pissing him off?" asked the younger blond as he watched their interaction in morbid fascination.

"Nah, he's had twelve years to get used to it," grinned the older teen.

"Twelve… you've been here all this time?" said Naruto in surprise.

"More or less," shrugged the older.

"How come you didn't do what Tobi did?" asked Naruto curiously.

"And leave old cranky here alone?" scoffed the older blond. "I'll admit, I was a bit pissed when I realized what Tobi did to us, but after seeing you grow up with mom, Kasa-nee and everyone else, I thought maybe it was better for things to be like this."

"And you're okay with being in here?" asked Naruto in confusion.

"Heh, not sure if you've noticed little me, there's not much of me left here," said the older blond as he ruffled the younger's hair.

"What do you…" trailed off Naruto as he took a closer look at the older teen. Aside from his face, there were sections of his body missing as though something ate through it. "What happened to your body?"

"Turns out, every time I slip you pieces of my memories to you in your dreams, I disappear a little bit of a time. I'm guessing it probably works like the Shadow Clones, memories will go to the original when the copy dies."

"But you're not a copy," argued Naruto.

"Not how your body sees me, little me," shrugged the older once again. "Anyway, we can talk more later. Kurama's chakra should settled by now. You should probably head back and check on Haku and Sasuke."

"Sasuke? But I thought he's…" mumbled the younger.

"You forget who Haku is, err… or at least you don't really know him this time around," laughed the older Naruto sheepishly. "Just trust me, Sasuke's not dead. He doesn't have the heart to hurt someone unnecessarily."

…Or so his older-self thought.

When the conflict was done and over with, he found Haku was considerably different compared to what his dreams depicted him. For one, the ice-user was a compulsive liar.

"By the way, my name's Seika no Mori, not Haku," said the dark-haired teen cheerily.

"It's not?" asked Sakura in surprise.

"Of course not," laughed the teen with a nonchalant wave. "You forget I'm traveling with Zabuza-san a known missing-nin. It'd be stupid for me to use my real name. Haku's just one of the many I use when I have to introduce myself to people."

"Then the story about your parents and your big sister…" trailed off Sasuke.

"Catered to what I found out about you," chirped Seika. "As far as I know, I don't have any siblings and my parents died before my kekkai genkai manifested. Ah, I do have an uncle though, but he pretty much freaked out and cut ties with me when I accidentally killed one of his employees in his storage room."

"…I can't tell whether you're telling the truth or screwing with us anymore," groused Sasuke as he glared at the smiling teen.

"That's the beauty isn't it?" chirped the ice-user. "Even Suigetsu here can't tell most times."

"I'm getting better!" snapped the blue-haired water user. "And don't lump me with these electrocuting assholes!"

Naruto wasn't sure how to take the glaring difference, but at least he and Zabuza was still alive. The addition of Suigetsu was also strange, he didn't recall the water-user being in the picture the last time around. He can't recall much of the water-user from his dreams, but if Sasuke and Sakura taken to bantering with him, he couldn't be that bad.

"You did something right?" asked Naruto quietly when he took the night guard with Obito on their return trip back to Konoha.

"You said you wanted them to live," replied Tobi evenly as he poked at the burning embers.

"I did, didn't I?" chuckled Naruto weakly as he fell quiet.

"What's wrong?" asked Tobi.

"Knowing what I know… I'm not really doing much to help," said Naruto quietly. "If anything, it seems like I'm only making more of a mess."

"Are you talking about what happened at the bridge?" noted Tobi.

"I lost control… because I thought Sasuke died," mumbled Naruto. "If it wasn't for your Naruto, I probably would've ended up killing everyone."

"…My Naruto?" repeated Tobi with a frown.

"He's… in here with… you know," said Naruto as he placed a hand over his stomach. "I wanted to ask whether or not he wanted to take my place since it seemed like he knew what to do more so than me, but…"

"Him? Know what to do?" scoffed Tobi as a hearty laugh escaped the time-parasite. "Kid, he doesn't know what he's doing half the time."

"But in the dreams…" trailed off Naruto as he frowned.

"He gets through by pure bull-headed stubbornness," explained Tobi. "There's no point in feeling like you don't live up to him. He's something else."

"If he's something else, then what am I?" mumbled Naruto. "I haven't exactly done anything to help anyone."

"You're going to have to figure that one out yourself," noted Tobi.

"Gee, you're a lot of help," grumbled Naruto.

"I don't have all the answers kid," retorted Tobi. "I'm trying to figure things out just like you are."

"I supposed, we're both grasping at straws in the dark," muttered Naruto.

"Stop thinking so much about it," suggested Tobi as he ruffled the blond's hair. "When the time comes, you'll know what to do."

"I'm not him you know," muttered Naruto.

"No, you're you," agreed Tobi.

The rest of the trip back to Konoha was uneventful. Zabuza and Seika had parted ways some time ago, but they said once they were finished with some residual business in Wave, they would come to Konoha.

Fortunately or unfortunately, neither Sasuke nor Sakura asked about what happened to him on the bridge. He wouldn't know how to answer them if they did. Team Seven went to the admin building as per protocol to drop off their mission report and Naruto went off to the hospital to visit his sister. Except… she wasn't there.

"What do you mean she was discharge? She's in a coma, she can't just get up and leave!" snapped Naruto as he slammed his hands at the reception table. The room his sister occupied for the last four years was empty.

"Well, she woke up," snarked the receptionist.

"She's… awake?" said Naruto in surprise.

"Yes, she's awake. Now if you please—Hey! Don't run in the hospital!" shouted the receptionist as he scrambled off to find Rin and Uncle Tesuri instead.

"Where's Kasa?" blinked Rin when he found and bombarded her with questions about his sister. "She should be with Kakashi. He's helping her train and—Hey, Naruto!"

She was awake. His sister was finally awake! As Naruto scoured through the village he was torn between joy and anger. He was both happy that his sister was awake, but also furious that Kakashi took her before he could see her again. Not that he had anything against the man. Kakashi did more than his fair share to help his sister after all.

Even so, it did nothing to prepare Naruto to face a Sasa-nee that had no recollection of him whatsoever.

"You really don't remember who we are?" asked Naruto quietly. "At all?"

"Well… not in the way that you think I know you at least," answered Kasa with a shrug, but paused when she took note his expression. "Look, just because I can't remember anything from before doesn't mean I can't remember anything forever. If anything, there's always new memories to look forward to. So…"

She was different. It was one of the first things he noticed, but at the same time, she still cared. Even without her memories she still cared about him. Which only made it hurt even more when he found out she was sent out to the frontlines against Kiri. Zabuza, Seika and the chain user Meizu had joined Konoha by then and ventured off to assist on the frontlines.

Suigetsu was left behind in Konoha on probation to be integrated into the shinobi force. Naruto wasn't sure exactly how the protocols worked exactly for people who changed village loyalty, but Team Seven was assigned to keep an eye on him while their sensei was off helping with the war effort.

Naruto lost count on how many D-ranked missions they went on in the weeks it took for the conflict to finally come to a close. From what he heard, the war was already coming to a close when Kasa was sent out, but it didn't make him worry any less.

With their return, came another set of issue.

"You're nominating us for the chunin exams?" said Naruto in surprise. "Don't you think it's a bit early?"

"Why are you worried Naruto? We have two combat medics on the team now," scoffed Sasuke as he showed off his and Sakura's new Combat Medic armbands. With the changed mission rank for the Wave mission, the two received the titles for completion of an A-ranked mission. "And besides, I've seen what you could do at the bridge. You have nothing to worry about."

Naruto flinched at the mention of the bridge and averted his gaze.

"Well, it's still your choice whether or not you want to take it," commented Obito, not Tobi. The time-parasite was colder in comparison "If you don't think you're ready, you don't have to go."

"But you're going right Naruto?" asked Sakura.

"Um…" started Naruto uncertainly as he glanced down to the application in his hand.

Snippets of a future that once were passed through his mind. Did he want to risk losing Sasuke to the sanin Orochimaru? Did he do enough to ensure his friend wouldn't abandon the village at the first offer or more power? He sorely wanted to refuse to take the exam, but at the same time, there was someone there he wanted to save too.

…Gaara.

Unlike him, the redheaded jinchuriki didn't have the luxury of a kinder childhood. His life likely remain the same as it had in the previous timeline. Even if Naruto refused to take the exam, it wasn't a guarantee that Sasuke would be safe from Orochimaru. The sannin was frighteningly resourceful when it came to getting who or what he wanted.

"Naruto?" called out Sakura with worry.

No… he can't abandon Gaara. He might not know the redhead beyond what he saw in his dreams, but that could have very well been him if he didn't have those who cared about him around him. Since so many people had worked on improving his life, the least he could do was help Gaara who had no one to do so for him.

"…I'm going to take it," answered Naruto.

"You don't sound very sure," frowned Sasuke.

"Ehe, you're just imagining things Sasuke," laughed Naruto. "Besides, since you both became Combat Medics, I'm going to need to catch up if I don't want to be left behind."

His words sounded fake even to his own ears, but he stood firm, especially when he saw the expression on his sister's face when he told her he was participating the exams.

"Chunin exams…" The grin on her faltered for a split second before it was replaced with a fake smile and a weak chuckle. "Yeah, that's great…just great… Um… Oh right! Itachi, you haven't eaten yet right? Come on, let's get you a plate."

She shoved Itachi towards the kitchen, pretending nothing was wrong, but he could tell. Even without her memories, his sister could still see future events to come and it wasn't pleasant. He wanted desperately to go after her and ask what she saw, but a firm hand stopped him before he managed a single step towards the kitchen.

"Best not go in there right now," advised Kakashi as Naruto turned back to face the silver-haired jounin.

"Why not?" countered Naruto before he found himself smacked upside the head by Sakura.

"I swear you could be so dense sometimes Naruto, can't you see?" huffed the pink-haired girl.

"See what?" groused Naruto as he rubbed where she attacked him.

"It's obvious Kasa-sensei and Itachi's brother has a thing for each other!" squealed Sakura as she clasped her hands together gleefully.

"Kasa-nee and my brother?" scoffed Sasuke.

"What jealous?" grinned Sakura evilly.

"Am not!" snapped Sasuke.

Naruto glanced mournfully towards the kitchen as his teammates trapped him in their squabbling. Whatever it was his sister saw, he would just have to deal with it as it comes. It was about time he put in his own share of weight in shaping the future.


End file.
